Wyoming, feds agree on how to remove wolves from ESA protection

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state have reached an agreement that would allow Wyoming to be included in the process of removing wolves in the northern Rockies from protections under the Threatened and Endangered Species Act.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal announced Thursday that his office has submitted a draft wolf management plan to the federal agency, while Mitch King, regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver, said the plan appears to be complete.

King said the plan should allow Wyoming to be included with Montana and Idaho in the process of removing federal protections for wolves — possibly as soon as early next year.

"I'm elated. I've said all along that my preference would be to delist the entire listing population segment at once," King said. "I think we can go ahead and finish the process and get the public comment in."

Thursday's announcement marks a break in a long stalemate between Wyoming and the federal government over the delisting of wolves, which were reintroduced in the Yellowstone region in the 1990s.

The federal government is requiring Montana, Idaho and Wyoming to have plans in place for managing wolves after the animals are removed from endangered species protections.

The federal agency has already accepted wolf plans submitted by Idaho and Montana. But until now, Fish and Wildlife had not formally accepted a plan submitted by Wyoming, because that plan would have allowed wolves to be shot on sight in much of the state.

Wyoming took the federal government to court over the issue in 2004. That lawsuit remains pending even while the state enacted a new wolf management law this spring.

While the federal agency has been calling upon the state in recent months to submit a specific wolf management plan, Freudenthal has said recently that the new law stood as the clearest statement on how the state intended to manage the animals.

On Thursday, King said his agency integrated elements of the new law with the state's 2003 wolf management plan to come up with a new management plan that he presented to the state.

Freudenthal reviewed the federal proposal and wrote to King on Thursday that the federal approach is a fair representation of the state's position. Freudenthal said he's optimistic that the new plan will advance the progress of delisting Wyoming's wolves.

"I am encouraged that we have solved your demand that we submit a wolf management plan," Freudenthal said.