Legislative findings and declarations

(1) Section 23A-2-201 appoints the division as trustee and custodian of protected wildlife in the state. (2) The wolf has been listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act throughout the greater portion of the state. (3) The service is the federal agency charged with responsibility to administer the Endangered Species Act. (4) The service acknowledges that Utah is not critical to the recovery of wolves and that it does not intend to actively recover wolves in the state. (5) The division prepared a wolf management plan outlining the division's management objectives for the wolf in Utah when the wolf was delisted and removed from federal control. (6) The wolf management plan prepared by the division was formally submitted to the service in 2007 for approval. (7) The service has neither approved, denied, nor otherwise commented on the plan since receiving it in 2007. (8) The state formally requested, in writing on multiple occasions, that the service delist the wolf throughout Utah, and the service has failed to acknowledge or otherwise respond to the requests. (9) The state cannot adequately or effectively manage wolves on a pack level in the small area of the state where the species is currently delisted without significantly harming other vital state interests, including livestock and big game populations. (10) It is the policy of the state to legally advocate and facilitate the delisting of wolves in Utah under the Endangered Species Act and to return wolf management authority to the state.