The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday withdrew a proposal to list the wolverine as a threatened species, prompting an immediate threat from conservation groups to challenge the decision in court.

Service Director Dan Ashe issued the decision with a consensus recommendation from three regional directors that the effects of climate change are not likely to place the wolverine in danger of extinction now or in the foreseeable future.

“Climate change is a reality, the consequences of which the Service deals with on a daily basis,” Ashe said. “While impacts to many species are clear and measurable, for others the consequences of a warming planet are less certain. This is particularly true in the Mountain West, where differences in elevation and topography make fine-scale prediction of climate impacts ambiguous.

“In this case, based on all the information available, we simply do not know enough about the ecology of the wolverine and when or how it will be affected by a changing to conclude at this time that it is likely to be in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future.”

The initial proposal to list the wolverine was based on climate change model forecasts showing overall loss of spring snow across the range of the animals.

However, subsequent analysis “found that climate change models are unable to reliably predict snowfall amounts and snow-cover persistence in wolverine denning locations,” a Service press release states.

It goes on to say that there is evidence that wolverine populations grew and expanded their range in the second half of the last century, noting for example that in April 2014 a wolverine was seen in Utah’s Uinta mountain range, the first confirmed sighting in that state in 30 years.

A group of environmental organizations contends that only 250 to 300 wolverines live in the lower 48 states and they say scientists acknowledge that the greatest threat to the wolverine is habitat loss resulting from climate change.

Staffers at the Missoula-based Western Environmental Law Center intends to send the federal government a formal notice of intent to sue over the decision.

“This is another example of the Service and Director Ashe caving to political pressure from the special interests preventing sound wildlife management in the western states,” said Matthew Bishop, director of the center’s Rocky Mountain office. “It is obviously time for the Service to employ the precautionary principle and protect a clearly imperiled species before it’s doomed to extinction.”

In Northwest Montana, Friends of the Wild Swan and Swan View Coalition are among a dozen groups that signed onto the press release.

“The Service knows the house is on fire, but is deciding to wait until it is absolutely certain which room will burn first before doing anything to put out the blaze,” said Nick Cady, legal director of Cascadia Wildlands. “The degree of certainty the administrators want before protecting wolverines is ridiculous and illegal.”

Ashe noted that the decision does not mean the agency will not be involved with continued wolverine conservation.

“We will continue to work with our state partners as they manage for healthy and secure wolverine populations and monitor their status. If new information emerges that suggests we should take another look at listing, we will not hesitate to do that.”

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.