1. WOLVES:
Gray wolves in cross hairs as big game season approaches

Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are working on plans for a wolf hunting season this fall. Photo courtesy of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Big game hunters in the Northern Rockies are gearing up to bring in northern gray wolves this fall, for the first time since the canines were taken off the federal Endangered Species List.

State officials say the wolf hunts will not threaten the populations' stability, but environmental groups are fighting to get the species back under federal protection, saying the wolves never should have been delisted.

"We feel that it's premature to hunt wolves at this time," said Lisa Upson, wildlife advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We're close, but we're just not there yet."

Gray wolves in the Northern Rockies were taken off the Endangered Species List in March after the Fish and Wildlife Service deemed that the species was no longer at risk of extinction, and their management was handed back over to state officials. Go to story #1