Oregon Public Broadcasting

Plans for a wolf hunting season in Idaho are on hold now that a judge in Missoula has put the gray wolf back on the federal Endangered Species List.

Doug Nadvornick reports the Idaho Fish and Game Commission will take up the issue when it meets Thursday in Post Falls.

Idaho Fish and Game Department spokesman Mike Keckler says members were supposed to hear about the evolving plans for the fall wolf hunt when the agenda was written for Thursday’s meeting.

Mike Keckler: “We wanted it to coincide with our big game seasons this fall. They were working on the rules and the brochures when this ruling came down.”

Now the hunt is postponed.

On Friday Federal Court Judge Donald Molloy issued an injunction that put the gray wolf back on the federal protected list for now. It clears the way for a lawsuit by environmental groups that would keep the wolf on the list as its population grows.

The ruling postpones plans to issue wolf hunting tags in Idaho. Whether there will be a wolf season in the future is now up to the courts.

Keckler says Fish and Game officials are disappointed by the ruling. Commissioners will learn more about it when they meet on Thursday.