The Associated Press | Posted: Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:00 am
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman said the agency is confident its decision to remove federal protection for wolves in the Northern Rockies "will withstand scrutiny" in federal court.
Sharon Rose said the agency expected Wednesday's notification that 11 groups plan to sue in 60 days to block the transfer of wolf management from the federal government to states.
The government lost an earlier federal court case over wolves in the Northern Rockies, when it attempted in 2000 to reclassify them as threatened - a step down from endangered. But Rose said the latest decision is sound.
"Everybody took extra care to make sure that what we were doing was the right thing to do and that the population was actually ready to be delisted," she said. "We believe the states will do a good job."
A spokesman for Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso criticized the environmental groups for "interfering" in the management of the region's natural resources. Barrasso is one of many state leaders who had prodded the federal government to cede control over wolves.
"Most of these special interest groups wouldn't know a gray wolf if it walked up and bit them," Barrasso spokesman Greg Keeley said.
The Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and The Humane Society of the United States were among those that filed Wednesday's legal notice. They acted within hours of the government publishing its formal notice that the wolves will lose federal protection in 30 days.
The groups' attorney, Doug Honnold with Earthjustice, said he would ask for an emergency court injunction if the states move to kill wolves before the lawsuit is filed.