Wolf Lawsuits Combined

A federal judge in Washington has combined two lawsuits filed by separate environmental groups challenging the federal government’s shift of wolf management from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to the state of Wyoming. Judge Amy Berman Jackson consolidated those lawsuits Friday. The lead group in one lawsuit is the Defenders of Wildlife, while the lead in the other is the Humane Society of the United States.  Meanwhile, a third lawsuit was filed by another coalition in federal court in Denver.  Generally speaking, the lawsuits all argue Wyoming’s management plan, which allows wolves to be shot without restriction in most of the state, is insufficient to protect the animals.  Lawyers for both the federal government and the state have asked the judge to transfer the lawsuits from Washington to the federal courts in Wyoming.