Environmental groups sue to protect gray wolves

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A dozen environmental groups are suing the federal government over a decision to remove gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains from the endangered species list, the Times’ Tami Abdollah reports. The groups filed suit Monday.

Gray wolves, once plentiful from central Mexico to the Arctic, virtually disappeared from the American West by the 1930s. In 1974, they were listed as endangered. They were reintroduced to the northern Rockies starting in 1995, and since then their population has soared to about 1,500.

Since the delisting went into effect March 28, at least 35 wolves have been killed in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, and environmental groups are asking for an injunction to stop the kills.

Federal protection is a hot topic lately, with the listing of the sage grouse as endangered being reconsidered, and a federal judge ordering the Interior Department to decide quickly whether to classify polar bears as endangered species because of ice melting caused by global warming.

-- Tony Barboza