联邦上诉法院在米苏拉审理两起灰狼保护案：政府主张交各州管理，保育团体要求扩大保护
2026年10月13日上午，美国联邦第九巡回上诉法院在蒙大拿州米苏拉市的拉塞尔·E·史密斯联邦法院大楼内，由三名法官组成的合议庭接连审理两起涉及灰狼联邦保护的上诉案，听证于山地时间上午9时30分开始。据 Capital Press 报道，两案的共同焦点是《濒危物种法》对灰狼的联邦保护应当扩大还是取消，牵涉爱达荷州、俄勒冈州、华盛顿州等地的狼群。
联邦政府在两案中的立场一致：灰狼在美国本土下48州已不再濒危，应当交由各州管理。代表联邦政府出庭的助理联邦检察官埃米莉·波拉切克（Emily Polachek）在庭上表示，两名地区法官此前的裁决并未改变美国鱼类及野生动物管理局的专业判断。
在第一起案件中，蒙大拿州一名联邦地区法官此前支持保育团体一方，命令鱼类及野生动物管理局重新考虑是否把联邦保护扩大到北部落基山地区，该地区包括俄勒冈州东部和华盛顿州东部。在第二起案件中，加利福尼亚州一名联邦法官此前下令恢复对华盛顿州西部、俄勒冈州西部和加利福尼亚州灰狼的联邦保护。联邦政府对两项裁决均提出上诉。
美国农场局、全国牧牛人牛肉协会、公共土地理事会和美国羊毛业协会等团体介入诉讼，支持联邦政府的立场。其律师劳森·费特（Lawson Fite）在庭上向法官表示，涉案的取消保护规则已经历三届总统政府，联邦政府的立场始终如一。
据生物多样性中心介绍，爱达荷州、蒙大拿州、华盛顿州东部、俄勒冈州东部和犹他州北部的狼群于2011年经国会立法失去联邦保护；2020年，联邦政府取消了下48州其余地区灰狼的联邦保护；2022年，加州联邦法官推翻该决定，恢复了大部分地区的保护。2024年，鱼类及野生动物管理局拒绝将北部落基山狼群重新列入保护，保育团体随后在蒙大拿州联邦法院胜诉，管理局被要求重新考虑，联邦政府就此提出上诉。2026年9月初，联邦政府指示该局再次考虑在全国范围取消灰狼保护。当天在同一法庭审理的还有第三起涉及墨西哥狼的案件。法庭当天没有公布两起灰狼案件的裁决时间。
Appeals Court in Missoula Hears Two Gray Wolf Cases Over Federal Protections
On the morning of October 13, 2026, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard back-to-back arguments in two gray wolf cases at the Russell E. Smith Federal Courthouse in Missoula, Montana, with the session beginning at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time. According to Capital Press, both appeals turn on whether federal protection for gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act should be broadened or eliminated, affecting wolves in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and elsewhere.
The federal government's position in both cases is the same: gray wolves in the lower 48 states are no longer endangered and should be managed by the states. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Polachek told the panel that the two district court rulings did not change the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's judgment on the wolves' status.
In the first case, a federal district judge in Montana had sided with wolf advocates and ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to consider expanding federal protection to wolves in the Northern Rockies, which includes eastern Oregon and eastern Washington. In the second case, a federal judge in California had ordered the service to restore federal protection to wolves in western Washington, western Oregon and California. The government appealed both rulings.
The American Farm Bureau, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the Public Lands Council and the American Sheep Industry intervened in support of the government's positions. Their attorney, Lawson Fite, told the judges that the delisting rule at issue has now been defended by a third presidential administration.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, wolves in Idaho, Montana, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and northern Utah lost federal protection through a congressional rider in 2011. In 2020, the federal government removed protections from gray wolves across the rest of the lower 48 states, and in 2022 a federal judge in California reversed that rule and restored protections in most areas. In 2024 the Fish and Wildlife Service denied petitions to relist wolves in the Northern Rockies; conservation groups then won in federal court in Montana, and the government appealed. In early September 2026, the federal government directed the service to again consider delisting wolves nationally. A third case heard the same day concerned Mexican wolves. The court did not announce a timetable for its rulings in the two gray wolf cases.
图片来源：黄石国家公园的灰狼（资料图），公共领域，摄影：Yellowstone National Park／美国国家公园管理局（Wikimedia Commons）
