Judge weighs wolf listing

Posted 6/15/10

Hunting wolves is feasible in Montana and Idaho, said Sharon Roes, spokeswoman for the mountain prairie region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Regulations are in place for hunting wolves in Montana and Idaho to maintain a recovered …

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Judge weighs wolf listing

Posted

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy will hear oral arguments today (Tuesday) in Missoula, Mont., about whether gray wolves can be legally removed from the Endangered Species list in Idaho and Montana while being kept on the list in Wyoming.Earthjustice, on behalf of 13 wildlife conservation groups, filed the suit, questioning whether wolves, hunted in Montana and Idaho last fall, can be removed from federal protections in those states while remaining under federal protections in Wyoming.

Hunting wolves is feasible in Montana and Idaho, said Sharon Roes, spokeswoman for the mountain prairie region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Regulations are in place for hunting wolves in Montana and Idaho to maintain a recovered population, Roes said.

The Natural Resources Defense Council does not support wolf hunting in Montana and Idaho, nor does it support removing wolves from endangered status, said Louisa Willcox, council senior wildlife advocate.

“Not at this juncture, with the current state plans as they exist,” Willcox said.

The council does not want wolves managed down to minimum population objectives.

Originally, the population objective was 300 wolves in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, plus 100 in Yellowstone National Park. Now, that number has hit the 1,600 to 1,700 mark in the three states, including Yellowstone.

Fish and Wildlife is presenting information to Molloy on Tuesday, but the service would not describe what that data was prior to the hearing, Roes said.

Willcox said the judge would hear one hour and 20 minutes of arguments, but no rebuttals.

Roes said the service had no idea how Molloy would rule.

Willcox said she did not know whether Molloy would nix wolf hunting in Montana and Idaho.

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