BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Wildlife advocates sued federal officials Tuesday after the government missed a deadline to decide if protections for gray wolves should be restored across the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains, where Republican-led states have made it easier to kill the predators.
The Biden administration said in a preliminary finding last September that protections for wolves may need to be restored because increased hunting in Idaho and Montana posed a potential threat to wolves across the region.
A final determination was due June 1.
The Humane Society of the United States and Center for Biological Diversity asked U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Montana to order federal officials to make a final decision.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson Vanessa Kauffman declined comment on the lawsuit and said the agency’s review was ongoing.