Wolf protection battle plays out in the courts
For the fourth time in 10 years, a court has stepped in to help protect gray wolves.
In a ruling earlier this month a federal judge said wolves in the Great Lakes region must again receive federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, effectively taking management control away from the states. This ends the wolf hunt in Minnesota and Wisconsin. But state and federal wildlife officials, and even some environmental groups, cite research showing dramatic recovery in the region's wolf population.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had argued the recovery was enough to "de-list" the wolves and let states take over managing them. The judge agreed with groups like the Humane Society of the United States, which said those state management plans did not do enough to ensure that gray wolves would not become endangered again.
Document: Full court ruling (PDF)
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Great Lakes wolves ordered returned to endangered list
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In the 1990s, the federal government reintroduced the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park. It was considered a big success. And that's when the real fight began.