"Federal Government Rejects Gray Wolf Protections, Proposes National Recovery Plan"
Federal wildlife officials rejected requests to restore protections for gray wolves in the northern U.S Rocky Mountains, citing their population's lack of danger of extinction, and proposed a national recovery plan for wolves to be completed by December 2025. Conservationists criticized the decision, as state-sanctioned wolf hunts continue in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, with aggressive wolf-killing measures approved. Despite hunting pressure, wolves from the Northern Rockies region have expanded into new areas, while political pressure to remove protections for wolves in the western Great Lakes region continues.