"WASHINGTON, DC -- Congress [April 14] approved a budget bill that includes a rider removing wolves in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Utah from the federal endangered species list and sets the stage for near-term delisting in Wyoming. The measure returns control of wolf management to the states.

The votes mark the first time that Congress has directly removed federal protections from an endangered species, circumventing the science-based process of the Endangered Species Act.

The rider was introduced by Senator Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, and Representative Mike Simpson, an Idaho Republican, and approved by Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate."

Environment News Service had the story April 14, 2011.
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"U.S. Proposes Lifting Wolf Protections In Midwest" (Reuters) [3]