The Biden administration is taking steps to eliminate protections for gray wolves

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday asked an appeals court to revive a Trump-era rule that lifted remaining Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the U.S.

If successful, the move would put the predators under state oversight nationwide and open the door for hunting to resume in the Great Lakes region after it was halted two years ago under court order.

Environmentalists had successfully sued when protections for wolves were lifted in former President Donald Trump’s final days in office.

Friday’s filing with the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals was President Joe Biden administration’s first explicit step to revive that rule. Protections will remain in place pending the court’s decision.

The court filing follows years of political acrimony as wolves have repopulated some areas of the western U.S., sometimes attacking livestock and eating deer, elk and other big game.

Environmental groups want that expansion to continue since wolves still occupy only a fraction of their historic range.

Attempts to lift or reduce protections for wolves date to the first term of former President George W. Bush more than two decades ago and have continued with each subsequent administration.

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