After gray wolves in the Northern Rockies were removed from federal protection in March, Bangs added “former” to his job title of wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
But after a federal judge restored endangered species status for wolves Friday, Bangs reluctantly changed his voice message to say the “former former” wolf coordinator.
The landscape for the region's 1,500 wolves has shifted in ways big and small as a result of U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy's decision late Friday to grant a preliminary injunction restoring federal protection in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
In his ruling, Molloy said the federal government had not met its standard for wolf recovery, especially for wolves breeding across the region to ensure healthy genetics.
The judge also indicated the dozen environmental groups that sought the injunction would prevail on the merits when the full case goes to court.
Meanwhile, the circumstances under which wolves can be killed has been tightened again.
Under state management plans, wolves were listed as a species in need of management in Montana, as a big game species in Idaho, and as a predator that could be killed anytime in most of Wyoming. All three states also had tentative wolf hunting seasons.
Federal protection halts any wolf hunting and prohibits wolves from being killed except under certain conditions when they are attacking or threatening to attack livestock and domestic animals.
More than 100 wolves have been reported killed by private citizens and government agents since wolves were delisted.
In Montana, wolves have returned to their split legal status.
In the northwest part of the state, wolves are classified as endangered and can only be hazed or killed by government agencies if they are attacking or threatening livestock.
In the rest of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, wolves are classified as an experimental population and can be killed by private citizens and government agencies for attacking or chasing livestock.
Since Friday's ruling, Montana and Idaho have resumed daily management under federal supervision of wolves within their borders.
Federal authorities have approved Wyoming's management plan and expect to sign a memorandum of understanding in the next few weeks that turns over daily management to the state under federal supervision.
Federal protection also means the continuation of federal funding for wolf management, which was slated to end when the states took over.
Federal and state officials said they were disappointed by Friday's ruling, which criticized the federal government's scientific and legal basis for delisting wolves.
“Our science was absolutely rock solid,” Bangs said.
Carolyn Sime, wolf management coordinator for the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department, said private citizens should be aware they face federal prosecution if they harass wolves in northwest Montana.
“They have to put their firearms away,” she said. “They have to use the telephone” to call government agents.
The FWP held public hearings last week on proposed rules for managing wolves in the state, but those rules are now on hold.
The FWP Commission might go forward with adopting the rules in August - except for the hunting season - in preparation for the time when federal protection permanently ends for wolves, Sime said.
The FWP will continue to handle wolf research, trapping, monitoring, livestock conflicts and landowner outreach programs, which include electric fencing and other measures.
“The FWP will still be the lead agency and we'll try to implement as much of our plan as we can, but the bottom line is federal laws supersede all state management regulations,” Sime said.
State wildlife officials in Idaho and Wyoming could not be reached to comment.
Jenny Harbine, an attorney with Earthjustice, which represents the environmental groups that filed suit, said ranchers have the legal right to defend their livestock in most areas of the Northern Rockies.
“The key thing is that the injunction reinstates the federal management standard from before wolves were delisted,” she said. “The public reaction has been palpable relief that all these wolf killings will end.”
Louisa Willcox, senior wildlife advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Molloy's ruling emphasized the need for wolves to move freely across the landscape, so they are genetically healthy.
She said the ruling could set a precedent for the management of other wildlife species, such as grizzly bears.
“There's mounting scientific evidence for these animals to have the ability for genetic connectivity,” she said.
Bangs said government attorneys would decide in the next few weeks whether to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but he said it may be wiser to wait and argue the merits of the case when it goes to court.
Bangs said the wolf population in the Northern Rockies likely will rise from the current estimate of 1,500 to 1,700 to 1,800 by the end of the year without broadened state rules for when wolves can be killed, including hunting seasons.
Jerry Gilbert, a sheep rancher in the Ninemile area where private citizens are barred from killing wolves, said wolves never should have been listed as endangered. He said wolves have killed 60 sheep on his ranch.
“I think the whole thing is from pacifists who think the wolf is the greatest animal out here, even though he's just a nasty oversized dog with no conscience whatsoever,” he said. “This lawsuit leaves us ranchers with absolutely no defense.”
Reach reporter John Cramer at (406) 523-5259 or by e-mail at john.cramer@missoulian.com.
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