U.S. Federal District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must reassess threats to gray wolf populations in the West.
Molloy ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. He found that the agency failed to consider the wolves' historic range in the region, and did not use the best available science on wolf populations. Molloy also ruled that the agency didn’t include the impacts of human caused mortality.
A collection of wildlife and environmental groups sued the Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this year for denying their petitions to relist gray wolves in the western U.S. under the Endangered Species Act.
Wolves in several Western states including Montana are managed at the state level. The groups argue federal protections are necessary to conserve the carnivores – especially amid ongoing state policies seeking to drastically reduce populations.
Wolves in the Northern Rockies were delisted in 2011, and legal fights over that decision have continued since.
- Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks proposal could halve the state's wolf population
- State releases updated wolf management plan
- Briefs: New wolf management plan; Suspicious mountain lion carcass
- Lawmakers propose to halve the state's wolf population
- State wildlife commission approves new wolf trapping regulations
