By Jack Connors

In Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Salazar, the Ninth Circuit affirmed that Congress could remove a portion of the gray wolf population from the protections of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) even though litigation was pending on the issue.  The Ninth Circuit held Congress had not directed the judiciary on how to decide the pending litigation, which would violate the separation of powers doctrine, but instead, amended the ESA to delist gray wolves in an acceptable manner.  However, wolf protection advocates are free to challenge future rules they believe would negatively affect the recovery of the gray wolf.

Read full summary here.