Star-Tribune Editorial Board

Wyoming legislators reacted predictably to Wednesday's announcement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to remove federal protection for wolves in Idaho and Montana, but not the Cowboy State.

Rep. Del McOmie, R-Lander, likely summed up the sentiment in the State Capitol best: "I am mad. Let's go to court."

Wyoming officials have every right to be angry with the Fish and Wildlife Service, which at one time approved the state's wolf plan but then abandoned it at the first sign of disapproval from the federal court system.

But it's never a good idea to make important decisions when you're angry, and legislators should take a hard look at whether another lawsuit against the federal government over wolves is a really good idea.

If lawmakers truly want wolves to be delisted so the state can assume management of the animals, the best course of action is to approve a bill in this legislative session to designate them statewide as a trophy game species, the same way we manage bears and mountain lions.

That won't guarantee rapid delisting; some environmentalists have promised to return to court to again challenge the Fish and Wildlife Service decision. But it would likely accelerate the process by removing a major obstacle to progress in the wolf delisting debate.

The history of wolf reintroduction in the Northern Rockies is long and controversial. Even though the federal program is viewed by most as a biological success, many in Wyoming are still bitter about the way it was handled. The Fish and Wildlife Service's flip-flip on the state's wolf plan is especially inexcusable.

But rather than look back with rancor at what has happened in the past, Gov. Dave Freudenthal and lawmakers should look forward to what's best for the future. Statewide trophy game management is it, for a couple of reasons.

First of all, that approach would give the Wyoming Game and Fish Department the best tools to assure that the state is meeting its commitment to maintain a viable wolf population in the state. Wolves could be pursued by licensed hunters as part of a regulated system, and ranchers would have the ability to protect their livestock. In addition, all ranchers who lose livestock to wolves would be compensated by the state under a program that has worked effectively for losses to other predators.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, trophy game management would be more palatable to federal judges and the general public. Some Wyomingites would like to think that no one from outside our borders should have any control over what happens here, but that's not the way it works. When it comes to endangered species, the federal government always has the last say.

Most Wyoming officials are convinced that the state's current wolf plan is scientifically defensible, and point out that science is supposed to guide endangered species policy. But there are plenty who will argue that a plan allowing the shooting of wolves for any reason over most of the state is scientifically unsound. And a federal courtroom isn't the best place to try to prove something scientifically.

Is it really reasonable to expect that federal judges will side with Wyoming, when even a Bush administration agency hasn't done so - and when two neighboring states have managed to produce acceptable plans?

The Fish and Wildlife Service's behavior has made it difficult, but it's time for Wyoming leaders to swallow their pride and designate wolves as trophy game throughout the state.