MISSOULA — The future of northern Rocky Mountain wolf protections came before a federal court in Missoula on Wednesday.
The hearing was the latest in a long battle over Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves.
Lawyers for the federal government and conservation groups squared off in front of U.S. District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy, presenting arguments about the merit of a petition denied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) over federal protections for regional gray wolves.
Gray wolves are currently protected under the Endangered Species Act in the Lower 48, except in the Northern Rockies region. Wolves in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and northern Utah do not receive federal protections.
Conservation groups petitioned the USFWS in 2021 to reinstate protections for northern Rocky Mountain wolves.
The groups — including the Center for Biological Diversity, Humane World for Animals, and the Sierra Club — argued that state laws relaxing wolf hunting regulations posed a risk to the species’ population health.
The USFWS denied the petition in February of 2024, finding that Rocky Mountain gray wolves do not need federal protections and not re-listing them under the Endangered Species Act.
In response, conservation groups sued the federal government. The groups, including Missoula-based Wilderness Watch, say Endangered Species Act protections are necessary to have a healthy wolf population. They also allege that FWS was wrong in the way they denied the petition.
"Wolves are still being persecuted as though we were in the 19th century instead of the 21st century,” said Wilderness Watch executive director George Nickas. “Our desire to see them receive the protections that they deserve and that they need at the federal level is why we were here in court and I'm hopeful that we're going to be successful in that."
Lawyers for the agency argued during the hearing that with management from Rocky Mountain states, the wolf population does not need federal protection. They also countered the groups’ claims that USFWS wrongly denied the petition to re-list Rocky Mountain gray wolves.
Judge Molloy did not issue any decisions on Wednesday, but said he would issue a ruling as soon as possible.
