Judge throws out federal wolf-killing plan in Wash. state

摘要

A federal judge has sided with environmental groups that challenged an Agriculture Department gray wolf management plan, ruling that federal regulators did not conduct a proper analysis of the plan. The lawsuit, filed in March in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington by the Western Environmental Law Center on behalf of five groups, targeted USDA's Wildlife Services program and a management plan designed to control gray wolf populations in Washington (E&ENews PM, March 3). The groups, including WildEarth Guardians and Cascadia Wildlands, asked the court to rule that the "Gray Wolf Damage Management in Washington" plan was unlawful and to declare that an environmental assessment (EA) authorizing the program to move forward violated federal law.