Federal judge rules for Wyoming in wolf lawsuit

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CHEYENNE, Wyo. • A federal judge says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was wrong to refuse to turn management of gray wolves over to the state of Wyoming.

Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne on Thursday ordered the federal agency to consider again whether Wyoming's wolf management plan would be adequate to meet federal recovery goals for wolves.

Environmental groups and others have criticized the Wyoming plan for specifying that wolves would be classified as predators that could be shot on sight in most areas. The Wyoming plan would protect wolves only in the northwestern part of the state.

Concerns over Wyoming's plan recently prompted a federal judge in Montana to strip Idaho and Montana of their authority to manage their own wolf populations.