The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today is expected to announce the removal of gray wolves from the endangered species list.

The delisting would go into effect 30 days after the announcement is published in the Federal Register.

The move won the endorsement of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition on Wednesday, when the groups’ came out in support of Fish and Wildlife Service efforts to delist gray wolves in the region.

The coalition is breaking ranks with a number of conservation groups in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The Sierra Club and roughly 10 other conservation groups are preparing a lawsuit to challenge the delisting, according to Sierra Club officials.

Todd Graham, board chairman of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said gray wolves have far surpassed the original minimum recovery goal of at least 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs in each state when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park starting in 1995. There are more than 1,500 wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“It’s a fairly easy case to make that wolves are biologically recovered,” Graham said.

Other conservation groups take issue with states’ plans for wolf management, which will take effect after the animal is delisted — particularly Wyoming’s. In Wyoming, wolves in the northwest corner of the state will be hunted as trophy game. In the rest of the state, where wolves will be considered predators, people will be able to kill wolves by any means, any time of year and without a license. Farmers in the predator area will not receive compensation for livestock killed by wolves.

Graham said he supports the plans state agencies have developed in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

“The states have put together some decent plans that are based on science,” he said. “[Though], if I were the guy who had the opportunity to draw the [predator-trophy game] line, I would have tried to get that trophy-game area a little bigger for the ranchers in the area. If I were a rancher, I would want to be in that [trophy game] boundary.”

Graham said the state will likely need to adapt its plans as time goes on, and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition wants a “seat at the table.”

“The wolf has been gone a long time,” he said. “We’re novices in the world of wolf management again. It really will take all the people in this community of Greater Yellowstone to figure out how to make it all work.”

Sierra Club representative Melanie Stein said her organization thinks the three distinct subpopulations of wolves in the three states are too genetically isolated for successful recovery.

“There is very little genetic interchange between those three subpopulations,” she said. “We are very concerned that the population won’t be sustainable over the long term. We are very concerned that inbreeding will occur in the future. They could end up right back on the endangered species list not that long from now.”

Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance Executive Director Franz Camenzind said his organization opposes delisting but respects the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s position.

“I appreciate their interest in a collaborative approach to this and we wish them well,” he said. “If they’re thinking they can make the plans better, then that’s a win for everybody.”

Eric Keszler, Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokesman, called the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s stance “great news.”

“Obviously, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department thinks it’s time to delist wolves, and it’s good to see an organization like the Greater Yellowstone Coalition on the same page with us on this issue,” he said. “Like a lot of people in the region, they realized that wolves are way past recovery goals and the best way to manage wolves in the region is to have an intelligent management plan in place.”