wolves delisted again!!

Wolves will be delisted in Idaho and Montana but not Wyoming
Service says Idaho wolves breeding with Yellowstone wolves
The Bush Administration will remove wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains and the Great Lakes from the endangered species list only days before it leaves office but leave them protected in Wyoming.

“Wolves have recovered in the Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountains because of the hard work, cooperation and flexibility shown by states, tribes, conservation groups, federal agencies and citizens of both regions,” said Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett. “We can all be proud of our various roles in saving this icon of the American wilderness.”

Today’s decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is scheduled to take effect 30 days after the publication of two separate rules, one for each population, in the Federal Register. The two rules address concerns raised during two separate federal court actions last summer requiring the Service to reinstate Endangered Species Act protections for the two populations. The western Great Lakes population was originally removed from the federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants in March 2007, while the northern Rocky Mountain population was first delisted in February 2008.

The decision is certain to be challenged by environmentalists who hope the new administration will force stronger protections on the polarizing predator. The new administration could withdraw them as well.

The decision was driven by the Fish and Wildlife Service and did not come down from top political people in the Interior Department or the White House, Scarlett said. They decided the wolf had met its recovery goals.

“We would hope that because that evidence and data is there to support the decision that the next administration will not turnaround and go another direction,” Scarlett said. “But it is their right and ability to do.

Since federal wildlife authorities were managing wolves on a day-to-day basis the same as state officials had during the brief delisting last year there should be few changes on the ground. But if it holds Idaho could have a wolf hunting season next fall.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided it would delist wolves in Idaho, Montana, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and northern Utah and leave them endangered in Wyoming, where the state law allowed more wolf killing. Wyoming’s so-called predatory zone, where wolves could be shot on sight, was a major issue raised by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula, Mont when he ruled against delisting in July.

In addition to Wyoming’s state plan, Molloy raised questions whether the delisting decision adequately considered how well wolves in the region were mixing genetically. Fish and Wildlife officials said in its new decision that they were not required to have wolves mix genetically naturally and that through augmentation, authorities could ensure the genetic health of the population.

But federal authorities also have new evidence that the wolves have been naturally reproducing with wolves from throughout the region. A male wolf left Yellowstone National Park and bred with a female from Idaho, said Ed Bangs, Wolf Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Then his son dispersed back into the park and raised two pups of his own.

“It seems like we addressed the concerns the court had,” Bangs said.

Officials said they also had addressed the legal concerns raised by a Midwest judge who reversed the delisting decision there in 2008.