BILLINGS, Mont. — A judge has put wolves in the northern Rockies back on the endangered-species list, following a successful lawsuit by environmentalists who sued to stop planned hunts for the animals.
The order from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula means the federal government must either drop or overhaul its proposal to strip wolves of federal protection — a process likely to take at least several months.
The federal government had taken wolves off the list in March, setting into motion plans for public wolf hunts this fall in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.
But after environmentalists argued that the wolf population had not fully recovered from near-decimation last century, Molloy issued an injunction in July blocking the hunts. Federal attorneys last month asked to relist the animal as endangered.
Wyoming lawmakers, many openly expressing frustration with the federal government, plan to meet this week to discuss how the state should proceed on wolf management.
Molloy had singled out Wyoming’s wolf management plan for particular criticism. Under the Wyoming plan, wolves would have been classified as predators that could be shot on sight in most of the state.
Steve Guertin, regional director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver, is to address the Wyoming lawmakers Thursday. Attempts to reach Guertin for comment were unsuccessful.
