Deal to Delist Wolves Sought By Groups

Ten conservation groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are asking a federal judge to accept a settlement that would lift endangered species protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho.  (It's unclear if U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy will approve the deal. Last summer, Molloy reversed the government's move to lift wolf protections in those two states while keeping them in Wyoming. Molloy ruled then that a decision to lift endangered species protections should be based on science, not political boundaries. The proposed settlement being heard in court in Missoula Thursday asks Molloy to effectively reverse that ruling. The deal also provides assurances wolves will not be hunted to extinction. The Department of Interior would have to review the animal's status within four years of the settlement's enactment.