Two Republican state lawmakers have been attempting to stop a lawsuit environmental groups have filed over a decision to remove the gray wolf from Endangered Species Act list in Oregon. Sen. Bill Hansell and Rep. Greg Barreto have proposed to approve the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission's November decision of de-listing the wolves.

At present, Oregon has eighty-one wolves. State biologists have urged to strip them of the endangered status. They said that the species is no longer face extinction threat in a substantial part of its Oregon range.

However, a number of independent scientists don’t agree with them. The research has shown that Oregon may support nearly 1,450 wolves. Presently, the animals exist on only 12 % of its potential habitat.

Three environmental groups sued in December, arguing that the commission didn’t succeed in following the best available science when it took decision to delist the wolves, did not carry out a separate peer-review of its proposal and there were flaws in its population viability analysis for the species. The lawsuit has asked for an unbiased judicial review of the decision taken by the commission.

The proposals from Hansell and Barreto consist of an urgent provision, which may make the lawsuit instantly debatable or stymie its process. They will come up as bills in the House and Senate and will be taken into account during the forthcoming legislative session next month.

The proposals also want to bring changes in state law by banning the re-listing of wolves as endangered or threatened unless their numbers go fall under a particular low threshold. The proposals have been supported by ranching, farming and hunting groups.

Todd Nash, a rancher and wolf committee chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, said, “We wanted to make the commission's decision final. We'd like to end the madness and not be bogged down in the court system”.