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KALISPELL - Federal wildlife officials on Friday again proposed eliminating endangered species protections for wolves, but environmentalists say this attempt, like the last, will prove unworkable.

“The bottom line is that there simply are not enough wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains to justify delisting this population yet,” warned Louisa Willcox of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

For years, the delisting decision has been held up, in part, because the states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming did not have acceptable wolf management plans. In particular, federal wildlife officials were concerned about Wyoming's plan, as that state endorsed a shoot-on-sight policy for wolves.

In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared Wyoming's plan inadequate for ensuring the future of the species.

But in 2007 - with about 1,500 wolves across the three states - the agency changed its mind, and following public comment announced it would end Endangered Species Act protections.

The states responded by beginning implementation of local management control, including preparation for wolf hunts. Environmentalists sued, and in July U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula granted plaintiffs an injunction, effectively stopping the hunts.

Molloy ruled that with regard to the adequacy of Wyoming's plan, the USFWS had “flip-flopped without explanation.”

Although Wyoming still was required to maintain 15 breeding pairs, it had been allowed to move forward with a plan that designated nearly 90 percent of the state a “predator zone,” where wolves could be shot on sight by anyone.

In response to Molloy's ruling, federal wildlife officials quickly pulled their delisting decision and placed wolves back on the endangered species list.

As part of Friday's decision, the Fish and Wildlife Service reopened the public comment period on its original 2007 plan to delist gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. Included with that plan is all scientific and other information gathered since.

The original delisting plan, Willcox said, “offered them two doors to go through.” It proposed delisting the entire population, and as a fall-back position suggested delisting the Montana and Idaho populations but maintaining federal protections in Wyoming.

Given Molloy's ruling, she said, most assume the intent now is to move ahead in two of the three states.

But that will depend on the results of the new comment period, said Ed Bangs, wolf coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service. “There are two options,” he said, “and those two options are still on the table.”

He did add, however, that “the court certainly raised some pretty important issues regarding Wyoming, and we'll be taking a close look at that.”

And while maintaining federal protections in Wyoming would appear to satisfy the court's concerns, Willcox maintains the move still would fall short, both legally and biologically. Because the population was listed as a whole, not state by state, it must be treated as a genetically integrated meta-population that crosses state lines, she said.

“This doesn't address the fundamental problem of removing Endangered Species Act protections from wolves in the Northern Rockies,” she said, adding that too few wolves exist to justify such a move.

“It's frustrating,” Willcox said, “to be so close to sustainable wolf populations in the region, and to have the Bush administration try to rush a slipshod delisting proposal through before it leaves office. It reverses course in yet another attempt to undo one of the great conservation success stories.”

Federal wildlife officials, however, disagreed.

The USFWS “is committed to ensuring that wolves thrive in the northern Rocky Mountains, and will continue to work with the states and the public to advance the recovery of the species,” said Steve Guertin, director of the agency's Mountain-Prairie Region.

The public can comment on the revived delisting plan through Nov. 28. Federal officials said they are specifically requesting additional comments on issues raised by the court, including: genetic exchange between portions of the wolf population; Wyoming's wolf-management plan; the adequacy of state wolf plans; the ability of states to ensure minimum wolf numbers; and whether the agency can split a population already protected.

Information about each of these issues - as well as the delisting proposal and subsequent documents - can be viewed at www.westerngraywolf.fws.gov.

The 283,000 comments submitted during the initial public period need not be re-submitted, Bangs said.

Send comments online to www.regulations.gov, or via traditional mail to Public Comments Processing, Attn: RIN 1018-Au53, Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222, Arlington, VA 22203.

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