Calif. to consider listing for lone wolf

The California Fish and Game Commission yesterday approved a petition to protect the lone gray wolf in the state.

Commissioners listened to hours of testimony before deciding the wolf -- originally from Oregon and known to scientists as OR7 -- was a candidate for endangered species protection under California law. There will be a yearlong status review before a final decision is made.

The petition is coming from the Center for Biological Diversity, Big Wildlife, the Environmental Protection Information Center and the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in an effort to re-establish the wolf in the state.

"Wolves are a really important part of California history and the North American landscape, but there has never been any kind of recovery plan for gray wolves in California," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "With protection, it is much more likely that we will go from just one to many wolves in California."