A coalition of conservation and animal-protection groups, including The Humane Society of the United States, has filed a lawsuit against two U.S. agencies to halt the implementation of a new federal regulation that removes much of the protections for the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The HSUS joined 16 other organizations in filing the suit on October 1 in U.S. District Court in Oregon against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The new federal regulation in question, which downlists gray wolves under the ESA, went into effect on April 1.

The groups are attempting to block the April 1 rule issued by the USFWS, which downlists most gray wolves in the lower 48 states from endangered to threatened. The threatened classification—along with additional special rules issued by the USFWS—makes it easier for people to resort to lethal methods in resolving conflicts between humans and wolves throughout the Great Lakes states and the northern Rockies, as well as in any neighboring states where the wolves may attempt to disperse. What's more, the final rule also removes federal wolf protections entirely in some states that are within historical gray wolf range, but have not committed in any way to wolf recovery.

Given the general lack of tolerance for these ecologically important native carnivores, the new regulation could be disastrous for gray wolves.

"Downlisting the gray wolf to threatened is premature," stated Dr. John W. Grandy, senior vice president of wildlife programs at The HSUS. "Habitat loss, over-exploitation through sport hunting and trapping, and a long history of government-subsidized lethal control imperiled the wolf. The same threats exist today, and it is clear that the states will use any reduction in federal protection to resume the same lethal activities that once jeopardized the very existence of the gray wolf."

Gray wolves once ranged across the United States in the hundreds of thousands. Although wolf scientists and conservationists have been vocal in their belief that the recovery of the gray wolf is still fragile and tenuous, the federal government apparently believes the current population estimate of 3,700 is large enough to merit a reduction of federal protections, despite the fact that wolves still face many threats to their long-term survival.

The USFWS has announced that it is already making plans to remove ESA protections entirely for gray wolves in two major geographical areas. If the USFWS proceeds with its "delisting" plans, which it has said could be implemented within the next year, most wolves will be bereft of federal protections. The species' survival will then be in the hands of individual states—the same states that have shown these animals little mercy so far.

Parties to the suit are Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, American Lands Alliance, Animal Protection Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, Forest Watch, Hell's Canyon Preservation Council, Help Our Wolves Live, The HSUS, Klamath Forest Alliance, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Minnesota Wolf Alliance, Oregon Natural Resources Council, RESTORE: The North Woods, Sinapu, and the Wildlands Project.