The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is moving closer to delisting the gray wolf in Wyoming as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Wolf populations have expanded significantly in recent years, and wolves have been removed from the ESA list in neighboring Montana and Idaho.
Under an agreement reached in August by Fish and Wildlife officials and Gov. Matt Mead, the state’s roughly 243 wolves living outside Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Indian Reservation could be killed on sight in all but the northwest part of the state, where they would be designated as trophy game and could only be hunted with a license.
The plan also establishes a flex zone covering northern Sublette and Lincoln counties, as well as southern Teton County, in which wolves would be protected only from Oct. 15 until the end of the following February.
Wyoming would be required to maintain a population of 100 wolves, including 10 breeding pairs, outside Yellowstone and the Wind River reservation.
No hunting or trapping will be allowed in Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park and the National Elk Refuge under the
proposed rule to be published in the Federal Register.
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