A final rule in the Federal Register with an effective date 11/18/94 created the “Establishment of a Nonessential Experimental Population of Gray Wolves in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.”  Ed Bangs was the contact name on that order.  While his phone number has changed, Ed remains that go-to person for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when it comes to gray wolves in the Rocky Mountains.

As Ed often says, “wolves are boring, but people are just completely fascinating.”  Since that relisting notice in 1994, litigation has followed.   According to Ed, “Wolf issues are very symbolic and, in our culture, that means people go to court.”  Just over 15 years after the publishing of that rule, we are still in court.

This week, moves are being made on two separate wolf lawsuits.  In Montana and Idaho, wolves are currently not protected under the Endangered Species Act.  However, a lawsuit aims to reinstate that protection and end the hunting season in the two states.  At this point, it is all about paperwork.  The final piece of that, being the last filing of the defendant interveners, is due in to Judge Donald Malloy in Missoula by 5 pm Thursday.  From this point, he will decide whether or not to take oral arguments at a hearing and, if so, when that hearing will happen.  The judge could decide to skip the hearing all together and make his decision solely on what has been presented thus far.

While the topic is still wolves in Wyoming, what is to be before Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne on Friday is much different.  The State of Wyoming has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their exclusion when wolves were delisted in Montana and Idaho but not in the Cowboy State.  The U.S. District Court in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is scheduled to hear oral arguments at 9 am on Friday.  Following those, the Wyoming Wolf Coalition will have a new conference that Northern Ag will take part in.