Wolves May Remain Protected

September 19, 2008 - A federal wildlife official in Billings this week said the government planned to retreat for now from its attempt to take gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list. The official, Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the government in the next weeks plans to withdraw a rule issued this spring.

The rule was based on the assertion that the region's approximately 1,500 wolves were recovered fully, opening the way for public hunting of wolves to begin this fall in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Those hunts have been in doubt since July, when Judge Donald Molloy of Federal District Court in Montana blocked them pending resolution of a lawsuit by environmentalists.
Reprinted from Associate Press

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