The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to lift hunting restrictions on gray wolves throughout the Lower 48 contiguous states, a move certain to reignite a legal battle going on for decades in the west.
Montana officials believe they've struck on the right formula to control the wolf population in Montana with a combination of both hunting and trapping.
It's unclear if less-restrictive hunting and trapping regulations are the cause, but 2013 is set to have one of the lowest rates of wolf predation in the past seven years.