From Deseret News archives:
Gray wolves moved off endangered list — but not in Wyoming
But wolves in Wyoming will remain under federal jurisdiction because that state has not done enough to assure their survival, Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett said.
The northern Rocky Mountain wolf segment includes all of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the eastern one-third of Washington and Oregon, and a small part of north-central Utah.
Previous attempts by the federal government to remove wolves in both regions from the endangered list and return management authority to the states have been overruled by courts.
In the northern Rockies, the Fish and Wildlife Service tried to address the courts' concerns by excluding Wyoming, where officials had sought a "predator zone" covering almost 90 percent of the state where the animals could be shot on sight. Federal officials said Wyoming law would have to change before wolves there could be taken off the list, and Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg said Wednesday that it was "probable" that the state would challenge the latest federal plan in court.
In the western Great Lakes region, the federal government made no policy changes. The Fish and Wildlife Service disagreed with the judge's ruling and restated its case.
The wolves will be removed from the endangered species list 30 days after the decision is published in the Federal Register, which officials said could happen within the next two weeks. A small population of Mexican Gray wolves in the Southwest was not affected by Wednesday's announcement.
The decision could be reversed by President-elect Barack Obama's administration, said Rowan Gould, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro said the matter would be reviewed but offered no other details.
"We would hope ... the next administration would not turn around and go a different direction, but of course that certainly is their choice and opportunity," Scarlett said.
Scarlett also said that the decision was based on science independently of policy considerations and that it was a watershed moment for a species first listed as endangered in 1974.
"Returning this essential part of our national heritage to so much of our natural landscape ranks among our greatest conservation achievements," Scarlett said.
David Mech, a leading wolf expert and senior research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, supported the assertion that the wolf population had rebounded.
