Until March 28, the fate of the gray wolf in the Rocky Mountains was in the hands of the federal government because the wolf was listed as an endangered species. But once it was removed from the list -- a decision that is being challenged in court by a dozen conservation groups -- the gray wolf fell under the protection of individual states. That is turning out to mean almost no protection at all.  prefix = st1 /Idaho's Fish and Game department announced last week that it would allow 428 of the state's estimated 1,000 wolves to die this year. Some will die of natural causes. Most will be killed by hunters.  Idaho officials argue that the remaining population will still be larger than the very small number to be protected in the original federal wolf recovery plans. But Idaho's Fish and Game department has overruled its own staff biologists, who for the good of the wolf population -- and the ecosystem  as a whole -- argued that more animals should be allowed to survive. Sadly, in Idaho, wolves are nothing more than another game animal to be managed for the benefit of human hunters. Beginning on Sept. 15, any Idaho hunter with a hunting license and $10.50 for a wolf tag will be entitled to shoot one wolf, at least until the quota  of dead wolves in his region has been reached. And how will a hunter know if the local quota has been reached? There will be a hot line, of course. Hunters will be encouraged not to shoot wolves wearing radio collars because those wolves are still being studied. Perhaps the solution is to fit all wolves with radio collars.  It is still possible that Idaho's wolves -- and the wolves in other states -- will get a _ . A federal judge will soon decide whether to support or object to the government's decision to delist the gray wolf. We hope he will restore the wolf to the endangered species list. There is no better proof of how dangerous life is for wolves thanIdaho's plan to protect them. Whose point of view may the author agree to?
Idaho's Fish and Game department. Idaho's officials. Staff biologists in Idaho's Fish and Game department. The federal judge.