Advocates for gray wolves won a partial victory in court on Tuesday.
Federal officials violated the Endangered Species Act when they determined these predators don’t warrant protections in parts of six states in the inland West, Judge Donald W. Molloy with the U.S. District Court of Montana ruled.
The decision includes wolves in parts of eastern Oregon and Washington.
FILE - A file photo of a gray wolf in Oregon.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Molloy is sending the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service back to the drawing board to take a closer look at the science and politics behind its decision last year to deny the animals extra federal protections.
Until the agency completes additional work, the status of the gray wolf in Eastern Oregon remains in flux: It’s not presently protected. Fish and Wildlife officials could grant it Endangered Species Act protections, or they could present new evidence bolstering their original ruling.
It’s the latest volley in a battle over wolf protections that over the past 16 years has involved numerous court rulings, federal decisions and even an act of Congress.
“Today’s ruling is an incredible victory for wolves. At a time where their numbers are being driven down to near extinction levels, this decision is a vital lifeline,” Brooks Fahy, executive director of Eugene-based advocacy group Predator Defense, said in a statement.
While environmental advocates celebrated the decision, many ranchers east of the Cascades and in the Rocky Mountains worry that stronger protections for gray wolves could make it harder to keep their livestock safe. And U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, is pushing to strip Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves nationwide.
FILE - Two adult wolves from the Walla Walla Pack were caught on a remote trail camera Jan. 16, 2016, in Umatilla County, Oregon. That year, state officials knew of 103 wolves living in Eastern Oregon. By 2024, the known wolf population in the region had climbed to 155.
Courtesy of Oregon department of Fish and Wildlife
For now, the status quo continues: Wolves in Western Oregon and Washington, as well as most of the United States, are protected. And in the region affected by Tuesday’s ruling – which includes Eastern Oregon – wolves are still not federally protected, though Oregon law does limit how and when these animals can legally be killed.
Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must revisit its decision. Judge Molloy noted that the agency did not consider changes to state laws in Montana and Idaho that would make it easier to kill wolves if protections are lifted there, and also said Fish and Wildlife staff had not applied the best available science or an understanding of the animal’s historic range. It’s not clear how long that new review might take.
Millions of gray wolves once roamed North America, but by the mid-20th century, these massive predatory pack animals had been nearly wiped out as a result of hunting and predator control programs. The push to bring them back started with the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park and remote areas of central Idaho in 1995.
As populations grew, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted gray wolves from endangered species protections in the Northern Rockies region. After environmentalists successfully sued to bring the protections back, federal lawmakers overruled the court in 2011. Nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife says that’s the only time Congress has removed an animal from the Endangered Species List.
Oregon had not seen any wolves for nearly six decades when a lone gray wolf wandered into the state from Idaho in 1999. More wolves naturally migrated over time, establishing new packs. State wildlife officials were aware of 14 gray wolves in the state in 2009. By last year, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was aware of more than 200 wolves across the state, 49 living west of the Cascades and 155 to the east.
Related: Oregon sent 10 wolves to Colorado. For some Oregonians that loss was complicated
Tuesday’s court ruling is part of a long-running saga.
As gray wolves have returned, so has controversy and concern in the areas where their populations have seen the biggest surge.
Last year, people killed 26 wolves in the state — 14 because they had preyed on livestock, one through a motor vehicle crash, and six unlawfully. One additional killing is still under investigation.
