Posted: 12.13.2010

The federal government plans another
attempt to remove gray wolves in the Great Lakes region from the
endangered species list.

Thomas Strickland, an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department
of the Interior, says the department will release a proposal by
April and hopes to make a final decision by the end of 2011.
Biologists say the wolf has made a strong comeback from
near-extinction in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The government has tried three times in the past seven years to
remove federal protections and return management of the region's
wolves to the states __ most recently in 2009. But federal courts
have overruled the decisions in response to lawsuits by
environmentalists and animal rights groups.

Officials say they believe the new plan will withstand court
challenges.

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