Back under federal control due to a technicality, wolves in Wyoming are momentarily safe from a hunting season.
The folling is a news release from Wyoming Game & Fish:
CHEYENNE – A ruling today by a federal district court judge in Washington, D.C. continues the suspension of gray wolf hunting in Wyoming. After two years of hunting, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled on Sept. 23 that Wyoming’s plan was not legally sufficient to support the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2012 rule allowing limited take of gray wolves.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department Chief Game Warden Brian Nesvik said, “We are disappointed in the ruling that removes the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s ability to manage gray wolves in Wyoming. We will continue to work with the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office to address relevant concerns and ensure wolf management is returned to the state.”
Today’s ruling continues the suspension of the wolf season and all other take of wolves in the state. In response to the ruling, Wyoming filed an emergency regulation to address the concerns stated by Judge Jackson, but Jackson ruled the emergency regulation was not sufficient to alter the judgment she imposed last week.
The Game and Fish has suspended all sales of gray wolf licenses and will establish a system to refund hunters who have already purchased a 2014 gray wolf license. Hunting in the trophy game area in northwest Wyoming was scheduled to begin Oct. 1.
Source: Wyoming Game & Fish
Posted by Haylie Shipp
