Second release of wolves planned for January

Within the last year, as part of a controversial wolf reintroduction program, wolves have been released in north-central Idaho and in Yellowstone National Park.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that the first releases were a success, with most of the endangered gray wolves still alive. Some are even forming pairs. The effort will continue until at least 10 packs of 10 wolves are in place, possibly by 2003, said Ted Koch, a spokesman for the wildlife service.

He told the Associated Press that trapping plans for the second group are now being developed. "We don't have a schedule yet, but we're coordinating with British Columbia ... to gather more wolves sometime this winter."

The second release will send 15 new wolves to Idaho and 15 to Yellowstone.

But Eugene Hussey, the owner of an Idaho ranch where one of the wolves was found dead in January, and the subject of a federal criminal investigation, doesn't see why wolves should be reintroduced at all.

"There's 2,000 of them in Minnesota and they've run all the livestock out ...They're really not an endangered species."

This story compiled by the Outside Online staff