Utah wildlife officials have, in fact, been waiting for the delisting announcement in order to come up with a workable management plan.

Ranchers and wildlife groups want some control; environmental groups want wolves protected.

Back in the summer of 2005, the Utah Wildlife Board adopted a plan where ranchers would be allowed to kill wolves threatening their livestock, and ranchers would be compensated for livestock killed by wolves.

The plan was requested by lawmakers so Utah would have regulations in place when and if wolves were removed from the federal endangered list.

As far as Utah is now concerned, the wolf has and has not been delisted, since only a small corner of the state falls under District Population Segment. So there still remains the issue of what to do if wolves move into Utah and venture out of their little corner of the state.

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E-mail: grass@desnews.com