VIDEO: The gray wolf will likely return to the endangered species list in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana less than a year after it was removed by the federal government.
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The imminent reversal follows a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its position.

In March of this year, the Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf from the endangered species list.

The delisting was based on the conclusion that the wolf reintroduction program in the region had been a success and the wolf population had reached a healthy level.

Hunting of the gray wolf ensued.

Several environmental groups banded together to sue the federal government claiming the hunts would eventually bring the wolf population back to crisis levels.

In July, a federal judge in Montana agreed and ordered a halt to the hunts.

The injunction gave the wolves in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana federal Endangered Species Act protections once again.

On Sept. 22, U.S. Fish and Wildlife asked the same judge to throw out the government’s earlier decision to de-list the wolf and officially place it back on the endangered species list.

All parties expect the judge to sign off on the request.

Environmental groups expressed relief over the news.

“We see this as a greater opportunity to gaining greater protection for the wolf,” said Duane Short, wild species program director for Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said it will take the wolf issue and go back to the drawing board.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who doesn’t think the gray wolf should return to the endangered species list, is encouraging the Fish and Wildlife Service to again favor de-listing and state-controlled hunting.

“State management can be done,” he said. “We do it with a lot of species … We’ve demonstrated that the population is robust and healthy.”