Montana wildlife officials intend to sue the federal government over the decision to protect wolverines under the Endangered Species Act. The elusive omnivores were listed as threatened in the Lower 48 in November.
Montana is home to the largest population of wolverines in the contiguous United States. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP) officials wrote in their intent to sue that there were already sufficient conservation efforts to protect the animal and the U.S. wolverine populations are not distinct from Canada.
FWP also criticized the climate models federal biologists used in their decision to project future snowpack loss.
The Fish and Wildlife Service decided to not list animals in 2020, but was court-ordered to reconsider their decision and ended up listing them 2023.