The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to announce this morning it will officially remove Rocky Mountain gray wolves from the federal endangered species list.
The agency has scheduled a 10 a.m. press conference to make the announcement, said Ed Bangs, the federal wolf recovery coordinator.
After decades of federal protections, the government says there are enough wolves to give management authority back to the states - which plan to curb soaring wolf populations through controlled hunts.
Wolves were first listed for federal protection in 1967. The government reintroduced wolves to the Western Rockies in 1995 and 1996 as part of a Clinton administration plan to bring the species back from the brink.
The recovery goal for Idaho was 300 wolves - a number reached in 2002 after populations grew by 20 percent each year, mostly because wolves had abundant food and few predators.
Officials now estimate nearly 800 wolves prowl Idaho's forests, and reports of conflicts between livestock and big game herds are on the rise.
Environmental groups say there aren't yet enough wolves to relinquish federal protections. Several organizations are preparing lawsuits to block delisting, including Earthjustice, a California-based environmental group.
Doug Honnold is an Earthjustice lawyer in Bozeman, Mont., who said delisting is a political move to appease a few "hostile states."
"We're not at a legitimate recovery level," Honnold, said. "We're going backward instead of forward."
He has already filed suit against the government regarding the so-called 10(j) rule, which relaxes laws for killing wolves that attack dogs or livestock, and he is preparing to challenge delisting on behalf of at least a half-dozen groups, including the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife.
Meanwhile, states are developing plans to take over control of the species. Idaho will grant hunting permits in areas where wolves are damaging big game populations and harassing domestic livestock, as well as work to provide viewing opportunities where wolves are welcomed, according to the state's preliminary plan.
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission is expected to review the proposed plan at meetings in early March.
