DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal protections for gray wolves have been reinstated for the northern half of Iowa and portions of nearby states.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia reinstated federal protections in the western Great Lakes region on Dec. 19. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its rule on the decision Friday.
The ruling once again classifies gray wolves as endangered in all of Wisconsin and Michigan, the eastern half of North Dakota and South Dakota, the northern half of Iowa, the northern portions of Illinois and Indiana, and the northwestern portion of Ohio. Wolves in Minnesota are once again classified as threatened.
The court decision, the result of a lawsuit filed by the Humane Society of the United States, vacated and set aside a 2011 delisting rule.
