USFWS Asks Court to Reinstate Rule Removing Protections for Gray Wolves 

For Immediate Release: September 18, 2024

Contact: Susan Holmes [email protected], (202) 329-1553

Trump-era Rule Would Halt Ongoing Wolf Recovery Across the U.S.

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) filed an appeal on Friday, seeking to overturn a 2022 district court decision that reinstated Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across most of the U.S. If the government’s appeal to the 9th circuit is successful, a Trump-era rule removing federal protections for gray wolves would be reinstated, robbing the species of important tools and protections that are key to conservation and recovery efforts. 

“Endangered Species Act protections remain key to ensuring gray wolves return to the American landscape where they belong,” said Endangered Species Coalition Executive Director Susan Holmes, “It is bewildering that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is doubling down on the Trump Administration policy that would undermine wolf recovery. This faulty interpretation of the Endangered Species Act would halt wolf recovery in its tracks. We urge the Service to continue gray wolf recovery efforts, and we remain committed to working with them on a vision for recovery.” 

Historically, gray wolves numbered in the tens of thousands, but now there are less than 5,000 in the Lower 48, in just a few Western states. A successful USFWS-led restoration effort in the mid-1990s, in partnership with Nez Perce Tribe, brought wolves back throughout the N. Rockies region, and a voter-initiated effort to restore the species to Colorado has just begun. Other areas of suitable habitat in the U.S. do not yet have an established population of gray wolves yet. According to a recent poll by the National Parks Conservation Association, 84 percent of Americans support returning wolves to suitable national park landscapes in the Lower 48. 

The Service announced in February that they would do a first-ever recovery plan, as part of a settlement agreement for a separate court case. If the government is successful in reinstating the Trump delisting rule, it is possible that the USFWS would abandon those efforts. 

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