Breaking News: Bush Backtracks on Wolf-Kill Plan‏

In Response to Center Suit, Feds Put Wolf Back on Endangered Species List, Abandon Plan to Kill Hundreds of Wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming

Breaking news! The Bush administration today announced it will abandon its defense of an ill-fated decision to remove the gray wolf in the northern Rockies from the endangered species list, which would allow hundreds of wolves to be killed by hunters and state agencies.

To stop the killings, the Center for Biological Diversity and allies sued the administration, winning a temporary ruling stopping the killing in July. But rather than continue to fight us in court, the administration just announced that it will formally revoke its previous decision and return the wolf to the endangered species list as a fully protected species.

We're ecstatic about the victory -- but our hearts go out to the nearly 100 wolves that were gunned down before we were able to secure the initial legal injunction.

Thanks for your support. This victory could not have been achieved without the help of thousands of Center members who donated their time, money, and voices to save the Northern Rockies' wolves. And thanks to our litigation allies at Earthjustice, NRDC, and Defenders of Wildlife.

Kierán Suckling Executive Director Center for Biological Diversity

P.S. We'll keep a close watch on the administration in case it tries to reissue its wolf-killing decision again before leaving office.

Here's the first newspaper story about the decision:

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 16, 2008

Feds retreat on Northern Rockies wolf hunting plan
By Matthew Brown (Associated Press)

BILLINGS, Mont. -- A federal wildlife official says the government plans to retreat for now from its attempt to take gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list.

Ed Bangs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the government in the next week plans to withdraw a rule issued this spring. The rule was based on the assertion that the region's approximately 1,500 wolves were recovered fully, opening the way for public hunting of wolves to begin this fall in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Those hunts had been in doubt since July, when U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy blocked them from going forward pending resolution of a lawsuit by environmentalists.

The decision to withdraw the rule listing wolves as fully recovered is subject to final approval by Department of Justice attorneys.

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Gray wolf photo courtesy of USFWS.