Gray wolves delisted again

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Bush administration announces plans to remove gray wolves in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountains regions from the federal endangered species list; environmental groups say it's a bad decision.

Story Published: Jan 14, 2009 at 3:19 PM PST

Story Updated: Jan 15, 2009 at 12:16 PM PST

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP & KLEW Staff) - The Bush administration has announced plans to remove gray wolves in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountains regions from the federal endangered species list.

But Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett said Wednesday wolves in Wyoming will remain under federal jurisdiction because that state has not done enough to assure their survival.

The government has tried previously to remove wolves in both regions from the endangered list and return management authority to the states. But the efforts have been overruled by courts.

Last September, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., sided with animal-rights groups that accused the government of misapplying the law in when it lifted protections for about 4,000 wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2007.

Environmental groups are critical of the move. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said in a news release that the second recent attempt by the Bush Administration to remove legal protections for the species "undermines efforts to address the needs of wolves and people in the region."

“This move is not viable legally, politically, or biologically,” said Andrew Wetzler, Director of NRDC’s Endangered Species Project. “They have actually come up with a strategy that will anger everyone from ranchers and state officials to conservationists. This simply gets in the way of finding a real solution.”