U.S. wildlife officials are planning to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states based on the gray wolves successful recovery from widespread extermination during the last century. Details of the plan are to be made public soon. The species received protection in 1975 and wolves were re-introduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 to repopulate the area. Currently, about 2000 of an estimated 5000 wolves living throughout the lower 48 states are in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Most of those 2000 are living outside Yellowstone National Park. In 2011, protections were lifted in the Northern Rockies, leading to hunting of the animal there. Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the proposal during a Wednesday speech before a wildlife conference in Denver. John Mellgren, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center says once the details of the proposal are released, his organization plans on taking the Fish and Wildlife Service to court should its proposal not be based on what he says the science tells us.
