CHEYENNE -- Lawyers for the state told a federal judge Friday morning that Wyoming should be given control over wolves in the state, calling the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's rejection of Wyoming's wolf management plan "arbitrary and capricious."

Federal attorneys responded that Wyoming's plan would likely cause the state's wolf population to fall below required levels, as it would allow the animals to be killed anywhere in the state outside national park land.

The state filed suit in June, after Fish and Wildlife turned over management of wolves in Montana and Idaho to state governments but kept Wyoming wolves on the endangered species list.

The court case is the latest legal battle over wolves in Wyoming and neighboring states since the animals were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in the mid-1990s.

Attorneys for Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Department of Justice faced off with lawyers from the state and Park County during oral arguments before U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson.

Both sides said they weren't sure when Johnson will issue a ruling on the case. But no matter how the case is decided, it will likely be appealed, said Harriet Hageman, one of the attorneys for the state.

Federal biologists estimate there are currently 1,645 wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, including 300 to 350 in Wyoming.

Wyoming's wolf management plan would list wolves as a "trophy species" in the state's northwest corner and as a "predator species" in the rest of the state. Trophy species are regulated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and can only be legally hunted with a license; predator species can be trapped or killed on sight using any legal means.

Federal law requires that each state wolf management plan must ensure its wolf population never falls below 10 breeding pairs and 100 total wolves. Fish and Wildlife officials are pushing for a goal of 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves in each state as a "buffer" to ensure the wolf population never dips below the minimum requirements at any time.

Friday morning, U.S. Department of Justice attorney Mike Eitel argued wolves in Wyoming should be listed as a "trophy species" statewide.

Wyoming's proposed plan, he said, would likely cause the state's wolf population to dip below the minimum limits.

Eitel also said that under Wyoming's plan, wolves in the state wouldn't have the "genetic connectivity" with other wolf populations to maintain a healthy population.

The state of Wyoming, he said, has not acted in good faith with the federal government to reach a deal on an acceptable wolf management plan.

Attorneys for the state and county said that the state would ensure minimum wolf numbers are maintained.

But allowing too many wolves would devastate farmers, ranchers and sportsmen in the state, they said, as wolves target livestock and trophy game such as elk. And the federal government's case, they argued, was a "Trojan Horse" designed to allow ever-increasing numbers of wolves in the state.

"We are willing to make sure that we protect a recovered wolf population," Hageman said. "But you know what? We are going to be killing wolves. It was never part of the deal for us to have an unlimited number of wolves in Wyoming or Idaho or anywhere else."

In a separate but related case, a federal judge in Montana will soon hear arguments about whether Fish and Wildlife properly removed wolves in Montana and Idaho from the Endangered Species List last year.

Both states subsequently allowed a wolf hunting season last fall; hunters killed 72 wolves in Montana and 144 in Idaho.

Contact capital bureau reporter Jeremy Pelzer at 307-632-1244 or jeremy.pelzer@trib.com