The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will again remove wolves from federal protection in the northern Rocky Mountains, but this time it will exclude Wyoming, officials announced Wednesday.

While Idaho and Montana will assume responsibility for the management of wolves within their borders, Wyoming wolves will remain on the endangered species list until the state comes up with an acceptable management plan. Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett also announced the end of protections for wolves in the western Great Lakes area.

The move drew condemnation from conservation groups and Wyoming’s elected officials, though for different reasons.

In a brief statement, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said he was “obviously disappointed” with the decision and indicated he is considering litigation.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service issued an extensive rule, and [state] Attorney General Bruce Salzburg is reviewing it,” he said. “I will await his review.”

U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso of Wyoming said the decision to exclude their state was unacceptable.

“This is an outrage,” Barrasso said in a statement. “Wyoming has honored its commitment to recovering the wolf. The decision is a dramatic shift from our past discussions and will only lead to more litigation, unanswered questions and delay.”

Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator with Fish and Wildlife, said Wyoming’s “predator” area, which encompasses all but the northwest corner of the state and allows wolves to be killed without a license any time by any means, remains one of the main problems with Wyoming’s plan.

“The simple answer is: Give Wyoming Game and Fish the ability to manage wolves to make sure they maintain the population safely over the minimum number of breeding pairs, packs and wolves, and allow for natural dispersal and connectivity,” Bangs said.

“Clearly, the 88 percent of Wyoming in predatory-animal status precludes most chances for dispersal and connectivity,” he said. “We’d certainly be willing to work with Wyoming on a management plan that could fly. There’s plenty of opportunity. We’re willing to work with Wyoming to make sure their state law and regulatory framework meets the requirements of the Endangered Species Act.”

Bangs said Wyoming legislators need to come up with a law that doesn’t constrain Game and Fish “to the extent that they have trouble guaranteeing the minimum number of wolves.”

“I don’t think anybody can argue that the wolf population isn’t recovered,” Bangs said. “I think people can debate about what is going to happen in the future.”

Bangs said there remain concerns over the long-term genetic viability of the wolf population.

Franz Camenzind, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, said he is “not surprised but extremely disappointed” with the decision to delist the wolf, although he agreed that Wyoming’s wolf management plan is not acceptable.

Camenzind questioned both the legality and the science of the decision to delist wolves in only a portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

“You can’t manage a species like the wolf that is so far-ranging in tiny segments like this,” he said. “I believe it is entirely politically driven. To break the subpopulation apart makes no biological sense.”

Camenzind also said he worries about plans in Montana and Idaho to manage for smaller populations of wolves than currently exist in the states.

“The Fish and wildlife Service has signed a death warrant for at least 300 in the northern Rockies,” he said. “One in five wolves that are out there right now would be earmarked for elimination.”

Wyoming Game and Fish spokesman Eric Keszler defended Wyoming’s management plan.

“We think Wyoming should have the authority to manage wolves in the state,” he said. “And we believe our plan is adequate to maintain a recovered population of wolves in the state.”

This is the second time in less than a year that Fish and Wildlife has attempted to delist wolves in the region. Last year, a U.S. District Judge in Montana halted the delisting. In court documents, Judge Donald Molloy said he made the decision largely based on what he said were deficiencies in Wyoming’s plan. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service abandoned its original attempt to delist wolves last fall after the injunction.