Oregon Public Broadcasting

Idaho Fish and Game officials are urging the federal government to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species list before Barack Obama is sworn in in January.

They’re hoping the Bush administration will continue the process of shifting wolf management in the Northern Rockies from the federal government to the states. North Idaho correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

Idaho officials are anxious to manage the wolves that were reintroduced into the state in 1995. They blame the growing packs for declining female elk populations in the mountains near the Montana border.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Bush administration has been trying to oblige.

After a court battle with environmentalists, the agency is reworking parts of the rule that removed the wolf from the endangered list.

Now Idaho Fish and Game spokesman Mike Keckler says the state hopes federal officials will get that rule in place before the new president takes office.

Mike Keckler: “Otherwise it’s likely the delisting rule for wolves would basically be delayed or postponed.”

Fish and Wildlife officials estimate there are now more than 700 wolves in Idaho, with the population growing by up to 30 percent a year.

Ultimately, the state hopes its own plan will allow an annual wolf hunting season.