Groups sue to restore endangered species protection for US northern Rockies wolves

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Six conservation groups have filed a lawsuit challenging a recent federal government decision not to protect wolves in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountain region under the Endangered Species Act, arguing that states are exercising too much leeway to keep the predators’ numbers to a minimum.

The groups sued the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the directors of those agencies July 2 in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana.

The lawsuit follows a Fish and Wildlife Service decision in February to reject conservationists’ requests to restore endangered species protections across the region. Wolves are in no danger of extinction as states seek to reduce their numbers through hunting, the agency found.

The Fish and Wildlife Service at the same time announced it would write a first-ever national recovery plan for wolves, with a target completion date of December 2025. Previously, the Fish and Wildlife Service pursued a region-by-region approach to wolf management.

The decision not to return wolves to endangered status in the region violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to properly analyze threats to wolves and rely on the best available science involving the animals, the six groups wrote in their lawsuit.

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