Montana ? Wolves in the northern Rockies will be removed from the endangered species list within the next year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday, a move that would open the population up to trophy hunting.

Federal officials are expected to announce the plan Monday, said Sharon Rose, a spokeswoman for the service. The agency also will finalize removal from the lis a separate population of wolves in the Great Lakes region.

Federal officials for months have been readying a proposal calling for Montana, Idaho and Wyoming to assume management of the 1,200-plus wolves in their states. The plan would go into effect following a yearlong comment and review period, Rose said.

If the proposal for the Rocky Mountain gray wolf skirts expected legal challenges and becomes law, it would open wolves there to trophy hunting for the first time since an intensive restoration effort began in the late 1980s. The Great Lakes wolves would be protected from public hunting for at least five years.

A similar proposal made last year to take about 4,000 wolves off the endangered list in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin is being finalized, Rose said.