U.S. Appeals Halting of Wolf Program

The federal government has appealed a judge’s order that it remove 150 wolves reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho. A trial court judge stunned environmentalists and government agencies in December when he ruled that the reintroduction of the wolves in 1995 and 1996 was illegal because it jeopardized the protected status of wolves already in the area. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved the wolves so they would regain a foothold in their historic range in the northern United States. Ranchers sued, saying roving wolves would attack their livestock. U.S. District Judge William Downes in Wyoming, which includes most of Yellowstone, delayed implementing his December decision until appeals are exhausted.