The repopulation of grey wolves in Montana and Idaho led to their removal from the Endangered Species List in 2008, concerning many conservationists. But last August a U.S. federal judge ruled this kind of subdivision of populations illegal.

Now Michael Brune of the Sierra Club says lawmakers seek to withdraw this protection through a budget amendment. [tip: Ezno]

Wolves in Montana and Idaho can breathe easier after a federal judge reinstated their protection this Friday.

Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted northern Rocky Mountain wolves after the population reached 1,200 in the winter, claiming that "all threats to the wolf population [...] have been resolved."

But Judge Molloy wrote "the plain language of the Endangered Species Act does not allow the agency to divide a [population segment] into a smaller taxonomy."

Wolves off Endangered List
Management of species turned over to Wyoming, Idaho and Montana

Lycos hosts a useful site for people concerned about the environment: ENS, the Environment News Service. Here you can catch up on daily news about the environment, everything from information on the antarctic winds being harnessed for power to possible oil drilling near the Great Barrier Reef. The only annoying thing about this site is that right-clicking on the links will get you an amazing pop-up box about the article being copyrighted. Some of us aren't trying to steal, you know, just trying to avoid evil-nasty frames.