june 9 2004 the unexpectedly strong comeback of the wolf in the northern rockies has created a great snarling and gnashing of teeth but its not the sound of the mighty predators bringing down elk or the occasional cow its the wrangling over what to do now that wolves have reestablished themselves since the gray wolf was reintroduced to wyoming and idaho in 1995 eight years after it was brought back to northwestern montana the population has grown twice as fast as anyone believed possible last summer the us fish and wildlife service decided that the process of removing the wolf from the endangered species list could begin once the three states came up with acceptable management plans to control the population both idaho and montana drew up plans that were approved by the fws but wyomings plan was rejected state law classifies the wolf as a predator meaning wolves could be killed on sight anywhere in wyoming outside of yellowstone national park and the adjoining wilderness area the state has announced it is suing the federal government over the rejection but for federal wildlife officials the proposal remains unacceptable it would be legal under wyomings proposed plan to have me get in a helicopter search out wolf packs kill them all then search out the cubs in their dens and kill them said ed bangs coordinator of the fws gray wolf recovery program the state though says the wolf deserves to retain its predator status because the rising population has caused severe damage to other wildlife species such as elk deer buffalo bighorn sheep and antelope as well as to livestock according to the letter from gov dave freudenthal and attorney general patrick crank to officials at the us department of the interior announcing the intention to file suit to ranchers the designation of predator fits the wolf i do not believe that livestock and wolves can coexist said albert sommers a rancher and president of the upper green river cattlemans association every time a wolf pack has come into contact with livestock they depredate livestock its nothing against wolves its just that cattle or sheep are slower than deer or elk or other game the claims of severe damage to the elk population are at odds with what federal and state wildlife officials say has occurred but it isnt surprising that there should be such differences of opinion about the effect of the wolfs return throughout history and around the world wolves seem to have always evoked strong emotions either for or against in mythology and folklore wolves have appeared either as forces for good raising orphaned human children or aiding humans in seemingly impossible quests or as the embodiment of evil that kind of sharp split holds for too many people biologists say the whole wolf issue has nothing to do with reality it has everything to do with symbols bangs said if youre a big cycle person and believe that