California judge restores federal protection for gray wolves in 44 states
CBSN
A judge in California ruled on Thursday that gray wolves should be protected by the Endangered Species Act. Two years ago, the Trump administration removed them from the list — and from the protection of federal law.
Senior District Judge Jeffrey S. White, of United States District Court for the Northern District of California, found on Thursday that the 2020 decision was based only on recovered gray wolf populations in the Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountains, and did not take into account threats to the species in other portions of the U.S. Just three days prior to the judge's ruling, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland published an essay in USA Today mourning the current state of the gray wolf species.
White's decision only applies to 44 of the Lower 48 states, and does not include Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and New Mexico. Congress delisted Montana and Idaho in 2011, and Wyoming in 2017, according to the Associated Press. New Mexico's wolves never lost federal protection.
