BOISE, Idaho — Environmental groups have won the latest battle in their effort to halt a wolf- and coyote-shooting derby in Idaho, but a prohunting group says the contest with cash prizes for whoever kills the most predators will go on as planned early next year.
The US Bureau of Land Management, facing two federal lawsuits from conservation groups, canceled a permit late Tuesday issued to derby organizer Idaho for Wildlife on Nov. 13.
The agency did not mention the lawsuits in a statement but said modifications to derby rules made by the prohunting group after receiving the permit left it unclear if the permit could still apply without another round of analysis.
‘‘We were expecting a fight, so it’s nice to see the BLM had a change of heart,’’ said Laura King, an attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center. ‘‘This is some of the wildest land in America. It is a safe haven for an iconic species that is just getting its foothold in the West.’’
Steve Alder of Idaho for Wildlife said BLM officials caved in to environmental groups.
Alder said the derby still would be held in January on private ranches in the Salmon area and on US Forest Service land, which does not require a permit, according to a federal judge’s ruling last year. But losing the 3.1 million acres of BLM land cuts the area for the derby in half.
The contest has a $1,000 prize each for whoever kills the most wolves and coyotes.
King said the Western Environmental Law Center is not withdrawing its lawsuit because it is not clear if the BLM would conduct the needed environmental analysis should Idaho for Wildlife apply for another permit.
Alder, the derby organizer, predicted that the permit’s loss could drive more hunters to shoot the predators on BLM lands anyway, though coyotes or wolves killed there would not be eligible for prize money. The event last year drew about 100 hunters who killed 21 coyotes but no wolves.