A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that some 300 transplanted Canadian gray wolves can remain in the northern Rockies, a decision hailed by enviros as a boon for species recovery efforts. The ruling reversed a two-year-old decision by a federal judge who had found that the wolf reintroduction program in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho violated the Endangered Species Act by treating previously existing wolf populations the same way as transplanted ones. The earlier decision would have required that the reintroduced wolves be killed or removed, but the new ruling will allow the animals to stay.
