A rule being proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove most species of wolves from the endangered species list would end federal protection for any wolves that move into upstate New York or northern New England from Canada or elsewhere.
Fish and Wildlife Service officials made the announcement Friday.
They said the protection offered by the Endangered Species Act is no longer needed because wolves in the upper Great Lakes and several western states have rebounded over the last several decades.
There are no breeding populations of wolves in the Northeast, but occasionally individuals find their way into the region from Canada.
Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species expert Mark McCollough says biologists in Maine are investigating a possible wolf sighting in Wilson's Mills from last winter.