In the perpetual yo-yo of wolf management in the Rocky Mountain region, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy ruled on August 5 that wolves should once again be listed as an endangered species. The judge ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) decision to turn management over to the states of Idaho and Montana but to keep Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection in Wyoming was a political rather than a biological decision.

"The Endangered Species Act does not allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list only part of a ?species' as endangered or to protect a listed distinct population segment," Molloy wrote in his decision. "The record in this case implies that the Service tried to find a pragmatic solution to the legal problem raised by the inadequacy of Wyoming's regulatory mechanisms, and Wyoming's choices about meaningful participation in a collective delisting agreement like that engaged in by Montana and Idaho. Even if the Service's solution is pragmatic, or even practical, it is at its heart a political solution that does not comply with the ESA."

The tug-of-war over wolf management in the Northern Rockies began when the FWS recovery goal for the species was reached in 2002 and proposed delisting was contingent upon acceptable state management plans. Montana and Idaho's plans were approved in 2003, but Wyoming's plan that would have categorized wolves as predators in much of the state allowing a "shoot on sight" policy was rejected. Some compromises were made and, in spring 2008, the FWS announcement to delist the species was met by an immediate lawsuit by environmental organizations.

In summer 2008, Judge Molloy granted a preliminary injunction to the organizations halting hunting seasons that were being planned by the state fish and wildlife agencies. Then, in September of that year, the FWS placed the Northern Rockies population back on the endangered species list to re-evaluate the science and allow the states to amend their management plans.

In spring 2009, the FWS?under a new Administration?officially classified the wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountains as a distinct population segment and authorized the delisting of the animals throughout the region except for in Wyoming. That state was excluded from the delisting because its wolf management plan, that would allow unrestricted killing of wolves outside the northwest part of the state, was not approved by the FWS.

Environmental groups once again filed suite but their request for injunction to halt the hunts in Montana and Idaho was denied on the grounds that the hunts would not do irreparable harm to the population as a whole. However, in that decision, Judge Molloy foreshadowed that he felt that the FWS had broken the law by delisting wolves in Montana and Idaho but keeping them listed in Wyoming. Montana and Idaho's hunts proceeded last fall with 72 killed in Montana and 188 killed in Idaho. At the end of last year, the wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountain Recovery Area, which comprises parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, was estimated to be at least 1,706, with 242 packs, and 115 breeding pairs.

Judge Molloy's recent decision was met with frustration by the state and federal wildlife management agencies. "For more than 15 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state wildlife agencies, tribes, conservation organizations, ranchers and other landowners have worked hard to recover gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Our collective efforts have brought this population to the point where it no longer requires Endangered Species Act protection," stated Tom Strickland, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks for the Department of the Interior. "The Service's decision to delist the wolf in Idaho and Montana reflected the strong commitments from the states of Idaho and Montana to manage gray wolves in a sustainable manner. Today's ruling makes it clear this wolf population cannot be delisted until the State of Wyoming has instituted an adequate management program, similar to those of Idaho and Montana."

States are now scrambling to come up with alternatives to manage wolf populations. The ESA's 10(j) rule will allow individuals to kill wolves that are harassing livestock or pets in the parts of the states where wolves are classified as for the "experimental non-essential" populations. But both Montana and Idaho also are considering petitioning to authorize the rule where wolves are having a significant impact on big game populations. In addition, Montana wolf program coordinator Carolyn Sime suggested that one option under consideration would be application for a federal permit to conduct a research hunt. In the meantime, Wyoming has filed suit against the federal government to implement its state plan, with Governor Dave Freudenthal claiming that the FWS "threw us under the bus" and pitted the other states against his. (jas)