ATLANTA, Mich. — After devoting four decades and tens of
millions of dollars to saving the gray wolf, the federal
government wants to get out of the wolf-protection business,
leaving it to individual states — and the wolves themselves — to
determine the future of the legendary predator. The gray wolf
has recovered from near-extinction in the lower 48 states and
now stands at a historical crossroads that could test both its
reputation for resilience and the tolerance of ranchers and
hunters who bemoan its attacks on livestock and big game. Since
being added to the federal endangered species list in 1974, the
American wolf population has grown fivefold — to about 6,200
animals wandering parts of 10 states outside Alaska. But the
legal shield that made it a federal crime to gun down the wolves
is being lifted in many areas — even though wolves have returned
only to isolated pockets of the territory they once occupied,
and increasing numbers are dying at the hands of hunters,
wildlife agents and ranchers protecti