By the Star-Tribune staff
CHEYENNE — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday that it will open an additional two-week public comment period on a proposal to remove Wyoming wolves from the endangered species list.
The initial public comment period for the plan, agreed to by Wyoming and federal officials last year, ended in January.
But Fish and Wildlife reopened a call for public input after a number of steps taken in recent weeks by the Wyoming Legislature and the state Game and Fish Commission to ratify the plan.
Under the proposed agreement, the state’s roughly 243 wolves living outside of Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Indian Reservation could be killed on sight in all but the northwest part of the state, where they would be designated as trophy game and could only be hunted with a license. Wolves in a flex zone, covering northern Sublette and Lincoln counties as well as southern Teton County, would be protected only during winter months.
The Interior Department has set an Oct. 1 deadline to give final approval to the deal.