U.S. judge's decision overrules Utah's wolf management plan

The ruling issued Thursday by a federal judge in Montana is likely to negate a new state law that gave Utah the power to manage the wolves in a portion of the Top of Utah.

A North Ogden lawmaker who sponsored the law said it is wrong to abandon the wolf management plan set up by his legislation, which includes killing the wolves if necessary.

"Simply protecting one species at the expense of the others is just crazy," said Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden.

The ruling comes after a pair of wolves were confirmed this summer by state officials to have entered Utah after decades of unconfirmed sightings.

Wildlife advocates say the ruling to renew Endangered Species Act protection buys time to create a plan that ensures the wolf numbers don't dwindle again in the northern Rockies.

"We are thrilled with the ruling. This is what we hoped for," said Suzanne Stone, of the Defenders of Wildlife, an organization that brought the federal lawsuit.

State officials said that under Christensen's law, which went into effect in May, the wolves were to be exterminated if found wild in a portion of Northern Utah that touches parts of six counties. The wolf had federal protection in any other part of Utah.

The split existence for wolves in Utah -- a target in part of the state and protected everywhere else -- stems from the animal being only partially listed on a federal map in 2009 as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Passed in the 2010 legislative session, the new state law required the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to avoid the establishment of a viable pack of wolves within the areas of the state where the wolf is not listed as endangered.

Utah ranchers testified last winter at the state capital, saying they had seen wolves and were worried about them attacking livestock and wild game.

Christensen admits the Montana ruling leaves state wildlife officers without any territory to manage. Some federal officials believe the wolves are no longer endangered.

"For more than 15 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state wildlife agencies, tribes, conservation organizations, ranchers and other landowners have worked hard to recover gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Our collective efforts have brought this population to the point where it no longer requires Endangered Species Act protection," Tom Strickland, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Parks assistant secretary, wrote in response to the ruling.

Gray wolves were listed as endangered in 1974, but after a reintroduction program in the mid-1990s, federal officials estimate there are more than 1,700 in the Northern Rockies, which includes all of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming along with portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah.

Defenders of Wildlife, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and other wildlife advocates sued the federal government in 2009 after the Fish and Wildlife Service drew up geographical plans to protect the wolves. The plaintiffs argued that the government's decision would have set a precedent allowing the government to arbitrarily choose which animals should be protected and where.

Complicating the issue in Utah is a state-sponsored wolf management plan, separate from Christensen's legislation, that has not been recognized by federal officials.

Christensen said he will turn to the U.S. Congress to address the overall management issue in Utah.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.