BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A rider in the federal budget bill that takes gray wolves off the endangered species list across most of the Northern Rockies would keep protections intact in Wyoming, at least for now.
Wildlife advocates conceded Tuesday that the wolf provision was all but certain to pass. Congress faces a tight deadline on a budget plan already months overdue.
That means wolf hunting would resume this fall in Idaho and Montana.
Western lawmakers said they acted to circumvent a federal judge who repeatedly blocked proposals to hunt the predators.
Wyoming lawmakers inserted language into the bill to uphold a ruling on wolves by another judge last year that was favorable to their state. However, the ruling said only that the government must reconsider Wyoming’s wolf management proposal — not necessarily accept it.
