Yesterday, senior U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White, of the U.S. District court for the Northern District of California, reinstated federal protections for gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) throughout most of the United States. The decision was the result of a lawsuit filed by a coalition of wildlife conservation organizations after the Trump administration’s ill-advised delisting of the species, which went into effect in January 2021.
Gray Wolves Regain Federal Protections in Most U.S. States
Judge White stated that his ruling was determined by the failure of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to analyze gray wolf population threats throughout a “significant portion of its range,” instead basing its decision on the recovery of the two gray wolf populations in the Great Lakes states and the Northern Rocky states. Judge White’s ruling stated, “The Service did not adequately consider threats to wolves outside of these core populations. Instead, the Service avoids analyzing these wolves by concluding, with little explanation or analysis, that wolves outside of the core populations are not necessary to the recovery of the species.”
White’s decision will not affect the Northern Rocky states’ wolf populations, which includes Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah. However, a separate lawsuit has been filed requesting emergency listing of the Northern Rocky wolf populations due to the passage of extreme hunting and trapping laws within the Northern Rockies in recent years, which allow increased wolf killing.
Born Free USA CEO, Angela Grimes, says, “We applaud this ruling to relist the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act throughout the majority of the United States. Restoring gray wolf federal protections is a great first step in allowing the species to recover throughout its historic range. To fully ensure the recovery of this iconic, keystone species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must now relist the Northern Rocky gray wolf populations.”
“We applaud this ruling to relist the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act throughout the majority of the United States. Restoring gray wolf federal protections is a great first step in allowing the species to recover throughout its historic range. To fully ensure the recovery of this iconic, keystone species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must now relist the Northern Rocky gray wolf populations.”
– Angela Grimes, Born Free USA CEO
Wolves Were under Assault
With the species placed back under the protection of the ESA in 44 of the lower 48 states, the process of recovery can begin once again. After their delisting, gray wolf management returned to the states, some of which are hostile towards the species. This became evident when Wisconsin immediately held a hasty, court-ordered wolf hunt that drastically exceeded the quota number of 119. More than 216 gray wolves were killed in just three days, prompting the wolf hunt to close four days early. Since then, hundreds more wolves, including more than 20 Yellowstone National Park wolves who ventured outside of the Park’s protected boundary, have been slaughtered.
There Is More Work Left to Do
Despite gray wolves having ESA protections since 1973, the species has only begun to recover in fragmented segments, and still only inhabits approximately 10% of its historic range. Because of this, many conservationists and scientists still classify the gray wolf as an endangered species when compared to other previously listed species that recovered to 50-75% of their historic ranges before their federal protections were removed.
Born Free USA will continue to fight for the restoration and expansion of federal protections under the ESA for not only the gray wolf, but also for all threatened and endangered wildlife.