Reversing the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s April-last-year decision to remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves in Montana and Idaho, Judge Donald Molloy, of the District Court for the District of Montana, Thursday restored the protections to the gray wolves. 

In his ruling, Molloy said that the government’s decision to remove, or “de-list” gray wolves in Montana and Idaho – but not in Wyoming - from their 1974 protection listing marked a violation of the ESA because, as per the law, the de-listing decision should to be made about the entire species, and not a subset of a species.

Saying that the gray wolves in Montana and Idaho must be given the same protections under the ESA as their Wyoming counterparts, Judge Molloy said: “The plain language of the ESA does not allow the agency to divide a species into a smaller taxonomy.”

The judge further added that to apply federal protections to wolves in Wyoming, and removing the protections for the wolves in the two other states was “like saying an orange is an orange only when it is hanging on a tree.”

Commenting on the ruling, Tom Strickland - assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks at the Interior Department – said that the agency would ensure the protection of the gray wolves in the three states; and bring Wyoming’s wolf management program into alignment with those of Montana and Idaho.