SALT LAKE CITY — Top Utah politicians are howling with delight over a federal proposal to remove the gray wolf from protections under the Endangered Species Act, while advocates are growling in disgust.

“I appreciate the Fish and Wildlife Service hearing our concerns and making this right decision,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said. “An unmanaged wolf population threatens livestock and native wildlife, and threatens our communities. I know that our wildlife managers in Utah and throughout the West are fully capable of managing the wolf populations in a way that benefits all.”

But Bob Brister with the Utah Environmental Congress sees it differently.

"We are deeply disappointed with the Obama administration’s decision to delist the gray wolves in the West," Brister said. "State wildlife management agencies have proven to be either incapable or disinclined to manage wolves in an ecologically responsible and humane way."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday proposed the action after determining the gray wolf population has been successfully recovered. At the same time it said the gray wolf should be delisted, the agency is proposing to add the Mexican wolf from the Southwest to its list of endangered subspecies.

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Led by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, 72 senators and representatives formally asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Monday to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act.

Under the proposal, state wildlife management agency professionals would resume responsibility for management and protection of gray wolves in states where wolves exist. There are currently no documented wolves in Utah.

The agency said its decision is based on the best available science and statistics that show the gray wolf in some areas of the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountains has rebounded from the brink of extinction.

“From the moment a species requires the protection of the Endangered Species Act, our goal is to work with our partners to address the threats it faces and ensure its recovery,” said the agency's director, Dan Ashe. “An exhaustive review of the latest scientific and taxonomic information shows that we have accomplished that goal with the gray wolf, allowing us to focus our work under the ESA on recovery of the Mexican wolf subspecies in the Southwest.”

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said the decision by the agency is long overdue.

“For quite some time, the gray wolf has been ‘recovered,’ and the issues with their being listed as an endangered species has limited states from employing responsible management practices, thus allowing the wolves to terrorize public land users and other animal species," Bishop said.

If the agency ultimately choses to delist the wolf, management of the species will be rightfully put in the hands of the states, he said.

"I am pleased that states will now be able to actively manage the gray wolf population in a way that is beneficial to the wolf population, as well as public land users, the sportsmen’s community, and all those whose livelihoods have been impacted by the current listing,” Bishop said.

Brister, however, said the decision makes no sense, especially given that Utah has no verified wolf population.

"We have been campaigning for the last three years to get the wolves back into Utah, so this is very disappointing to us," he said.

Brister's criticism was echoed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, which asserted the delisting the wolf effectively "slams the door on nationwide wolf recovery."

The service will have a 90-day comment period on both of its proposals, but the date has not been determined. A final decision will not be reached until 2014.

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