BOZEMAN – A conservation group has sued the federal government over the recent removal of most gray wolves in the Northern Rockies from the endangered species list.
Despite the predator’s steady expansion across much the region over the last decade, the Bozeman-based Greater Yellowstone Coalition says in its lawsuit that the wolf’s long-term survival remains at risk.
The suit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula. Molloy also is presiding over a similar lawsuit filed last week by 13 environmental and animal rights groups.
Endangered status was lifted on about 1,300 wolves in Idaho and Montana on May 3. 300 wolves in Wyoming remain on the list, after federal officials decided the state’s wolf law was too hostile to guarantee their recovery. Wyoming has challenged the decision.