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.
- U.S. House votes to strip wolves of endangered species protections
- Yellowstone wolves get used to people, then become easier targets outside the park
- Briefs: Feds change course on wolf recovery; Hunters unscathed after grizzly charge
- Study questions effectiveness of wolf hunting for livestock loss prevention
- State wildlife managers approve new wolf hunting regulations
