CHEYENNE, Wyo.-
Gov. Dave Freudenthal says he asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to accept the wolf management law the state adopted this spring as proof of how the state would manage the animals if they’re stripped of federal protections.
Mitch King is regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver. He says he doesn’t see much hope for the governor’s suggestion.
King says he expects Wyoming will be left out of the current federal process that could remove protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho as soon as early next year.
Wyoming officials are anxious to end federal protections so the state can start killing more wolves and reduce their take of elk, moose and livestock.
Both Montana and Idaho have already submitted wolf plans that the federal agency says are acceptable. Wyoming, however, continues to press a lawsuit challenging the 2003 federal rejection of its original management plan that called for classifying wolves as predators that could be shot on sight in much of the state.
