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MISSOULA - Payments to ranchers from wolf kills in Montana and five other regional states will come from a different source after the Defenders of Wildlife ended its program that compensates ranchers for livestock that's killed by wolves.

The group paid out almost than $1.5 million for wolf and grizzly losses since it began in 1987. The Idaho Statesman reports the group now hopes to spend the money on helping ranchers better prevent wolf kills in the first place.

Meanwhile, Montana and Idaho wildlife officials are meeting with environmentalists to try and revive wolf hunts in the Northern Rockies.

This year's hunt looks unlikely since a federal judge put wolves back on the endangered species list after some environmental groups filed a lawsuit to get that status back.

The first managed wolf hunts happened last year and state officials say they will ask the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for permission to hold future hunts to curb wolf attacks on livestock.

They point to the legal harvest of other protected species like salmon and bull trout as a precedent for the request.