The Fur is Flying Over Wild Wolves in Yellowstone
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Some farmers and ranchers are seeing red over a court ruling that allows gray wolves to stay in Yellowstone National Park, but environmentalists say, the decision is a victory for endangered wild life. CNN's Rusty Dornin now looks at that controversy.</s>RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wild and elusive, wolves in Yellowstone National Park will stay that way. A federal appeals court upheld the reintroduction of the gray wolf, guaranteeing them the right to roam free.</s>MARSHA KARLE, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: We're thrilled that the court agreed that the reintroduction of wolves was done legally, and that the wolves will not have to be removed from Yellowstone.</s>DORNIN: After a 60 year absence from that part of the Rockies, 30 wolves were reintroduced in 1995 in Wyoming and parts of Idaho. Ranchers were furious, fearing attacks on livestock. The American Farm Bureau filed suit. In 1997, a federal judge ruled the wolves should be removed and stayed the order until a higher court could decide. Ranchers say this latest decision is just bad economics.</s>ERIK NESS, AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FED.: It's bad news for ranchers and consumers, because the consumers at the end of this chain of food. We're out there trying to produce food. The federal government, in cahoots with the Clinton administration, is trying to put us out of business.</s>DORNIN: While a victory for environmentalists, it's bittersweet: Canadian wolves were imported to help build up the population, and that, say some, sold the native population down the river.</s>BILL CURTISS, EARTH JUSTICE LEGAL DEF. FUND: The bad news is the secretary can trade away the health of the wolves as a species in order to protect a certain population; that may not benefit wolves in the long run.</s>DORNIN: About 120 gray wolves now roam Yellowstone. For park visitors, the benefits have been hearing the call of the wild.</s>KARLE: There's nothing like walking outside at night on a winter night and hearing the howl of the wolf. It's something that was missing from here for many, many years, and is something that we welcome back with open arms.</s>DORNIN: Rusty Dornin, CNN.