Tagged: Gray Wolf

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday it plans to stop protecting the gray wolf and put the states in charge of managing these predators. But the plan is already facing some tough opposition from wolf advocate groups that say it’s too early for this discussion. EarthFix reporter Aaron Kunz explains.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service wants to completely remove federal protections of gray wolves. Agency leaders announced the proposal Friday. The move would turn over gray wolf management to states. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Dan Ashe says gray wolves have recovered dramatically over the past decade.

"To see a species rebound from a century-long campaign of human persecution to flourish on the landscape again, is something we're all extraordinarily lucky to witness in our lifetimes,” Ashe told reporters in a conference call.

There are fewer wolves overall in the West, but Oregon and Washington's wolf populations continue to grow. That's according to the federal government's annual gray wolf tally, released Friday. As Jessica Robinson reports, the count has also revealed the initial effect of a controversial wolf hunting season in Idaho.

In the 2011-12 season, Idaho hunters and trappers killed nearly 400 wolves. Yet the population count decreased by just 63 animals, or 11 percent.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has re-issued the kill order for four wolves in a pack in the Northeastern corner of the state. Starting Wednesday marksmen will take to the field, Ashley Ahearn reports.