US EditionJudge: Feds must reconsider protections for gray wolves in the West
MISSOULA COUNTY, MONTANA, AUG 5 – Judge Donald Molloy ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by ignoring key science and threats, affecting about 2,800 gray wolves in the West.
- On August 5, Judge Donald Molloy ruled that federal authorities failed to comply with the Endangered Species Act by excluding gray wolves in certain areas of six Western states from receiving necessary protections.
- This ruling came after the Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2024 decision removed federal protections based on inadequate consideration of science, population threats, and state law changes.
- The judge highlighted the agency's failure to use the best available science, reliance on flawed state data, and disregard for the wolves’ historic range and ongoing human threats.
- Judge Molloy noted that the Service based its conclusions on several key assumptions about the future status of gray wolves but failed to evaluate how changes in these conditions might impact the species.
- The ruling requires the agency to reconsider protections and maintains current wolf protections while raising hopes for more science-based management to support wolf recovery in the Western U.S.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Court ruling could lead to more gray wolf protections in eastern Oregon, Washington
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.Molloy is sending the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service back to the drawing board t…
Helena Independent Record
Judge: Feds must reconsider protections for gray wolves in the West
Environmental groups on Tuesday cheered a ruling by a federal judge in Missoula, ordering federal regulators back to the drawing board to consider endangered species protections for gray wolves in the Western U.S.
Court: Western wolves wrongly denied Endangered Species Act protections
Today, a federal district court in Missoula ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when it determined that gray wolves in the western U.S. do not warrant federal protections. Today’s ruling means that the Service’s finding that gray wolves in the West do not qualify for listing is vacated and sent back to the agency for a new decision, consistent with the ESA and best available science.In January,…
Judge rules U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service violated ESA over western wolves
A Missoula judge ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) violated the Endangered Species Act by removing federal protections for western gray wolves in 2024.The Court ordered the agency to take another look at whether or not the wolves qualify for Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections.U.S. District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy found that the USFWS did not use the best available science, which is required by the ESA, t…
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