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BILLINGS - The government is planning to retreat for now from its attempt to take gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list, a federal wildlife official said Tuesday.

Ed Bangs with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the government in the next week expects to withdraw a rule that had declared wolves fully recovered. That rule, issued in March, would have allowed public hunting for the region's wolves for the first time in decades.

Wildlife agencies in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming already have started preparations for such hunts. But they had been in doubt since July, when U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy blocked the states from going forward pending resolution of a lawsuit by environmentalists.

Meanwhile, the latest population estimates for wolves show their numbers in decline for the first time in more than a decade, to 1,455 animals. That goes against government claims that the population was continuing to grow at about 24 percent a year.

The decision to withdraw the recovery rule is subject to approval by the Department of Justice. Molloy also would have to sign off before it could take effect.

In his July injunction against the planned hunts, Judge Molloy raised concerns about whether genetic exchange between wolves was adequate to ensure their continued recovery.

Molloy also questioned Wyoming's lack of regulations on the killing of wolves across most of the state. Outside Yellowstone National Park and adjacent areas, wolves are classified as predators under Wyoming law, allowing them to be shot on sight.

The judge accused the Fish and Wildlife Service of having “flip-flopped without explanation” in accepting Wyoming's wolf management plan after saying in 2004 that it was inadequate.

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