Feds reject subspecies wolf listing

Environmentalists are blasting a federal government decision not to list the Mexican gray wolf as a separate subspecies under the Endangered Species Act. 

The group WildEarth Guardians says Friday's decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service means efforts to help the wolf population recover will be hurt. 

WildEarth Guardians petitioned to relist the Mexican wolf as a separate subspecies in 2009. 

Mexican wolves are a subspecies of the gray wolf. They were first added to the endangered species list in 1976. 

A reintroduction effort along the New Mexico-Arizona border began in 1998. 

Feds reject subspecies wolf listing