Federal judge's decision makes delisting wolves much harder The path to delisting the Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf just got steeper with a decision by a Washington, D.C., federal judge Sept. 29. The delisting of Yellowstone grizzly bears also may be in doubt. Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Bush administration Monday to take back protection for gray wolves in the Great Lakes area under the Endangered Species Act. His decision, while technical, cuts to the heart of managing endangered species, especially large predators that have so many conflicts with people. Gray wolves were removed from the endangered species list in 2007 in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. The population is booming and spreading out across the Midwest into the suburbs, farmland and south as far as Iowa. Wolves are spreading far beyond where all but the most doctrinaire environmentalists want them to be. For Minnesota, especially, which had wolves protected since 1975, delisting was a big relief and an opportunity to manage the species easier around farmers and others who suffered from wolf attacks on their pets and livestock. Friedman said in his opinion that the central issue was whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may delist a "distinct population segment" of a species that is thriving even though the broader species remains endangered elsewhere. Friedman said the Fish and Wildlife Service must give him and other judges a better explanation why they believe they can delist a species across part of its range even if it wasn't first listed that way. That presents a new issue for the Bush administration if it intends to try to relist Rocky Mountain gray wolves before the end of his term. Its delisting package also limited where wolves would come off the list. It is an even bigger issue for the delisting of the Yellowstone grizzly bear since it was listed across the lower 48 states and delisted only in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana....