VICTORY! Restoring Gray Wolf Protections Nationwide

Wolves belong. They were here for millennia before settlers nearly succeeded in eradicating them from the so-called “New World.” Always survivors, wolves held on, narrowly staving off extinction and embarking on a long and difficult journey toward recovery. In some parts of the country, wolves are reproducing successfully and contributing to healthy ecosystems in many ways. In the West, however, the scientific consensus says wolves are far from recovered.

The most recent data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its state partners show an estimated 4,400 wolves inhabit the western Great Lakes states, but only 108 wolves exist in Washington state, 158 in Oregon, and a scant 15 in California. Nevada, Utah, and Colorado have had a few wolf sightings over the past three years, but wolves remain functionally extirpated in these states.

That didn’t stop the Trump administration from prematurely stripping wolves of endangered species protections throughout the contiguous 48 states, however. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is saying through its actions that it does not matter that wolves in the West are not yet recovered because in its belief there are sufficient wolves in the Great Lakes states. The Endangered Species Act demands more, including restoring the species in the ample suitable habitats afforded by the wild public lands throughout the West.

In February 2022, we handily won our case to restore Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in most states. This will aid in wolves’ recovery in western states, where they are absent across vast swaths of their historical, wild, public lands habitat.

Wolves are a keystone species whose presence on landscapes regulates animal populations and improves ecosystem health. Allowing people to kill wolves in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana has already stunted recovery in those states, and protections must be restored there as well.

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Related Documents

• Court decision restoring wolf protections (2.10.22)
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service status review announcement (9.15.21)
• Gray wolf delisting complaint (1.14.21)

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