Here’s a divisive opinion among outdoorsman — wolves (and today we’re talking about the gray wolf specifically) belong on the American landscape. They were here first, long before federal lists, state boundaries, human settlement, or modern wildlife agencies existed. Their recovery over the last several decades is one of the most significant wildlife conservation successes in modern history, and this should be celebrated by the sportsmen who support their recovery via excise taxes and advocacy for science-based wildlife management.
This week, on 12/18, the U.S. House of Representatives took a major step toward returning wolf management to the states by passing the Pet and Livestock Protection Act. The bill passed by a narrow margin and now moves to the U.S. Senate for further consideration. If passed in the Senate and then signed into law, the legislation would remove gray wolves in the lower 48 states from the federal Endangered Species Act and restore the 2020 delisting rule that previously returned management authority to state wildlife agencies.
The bill also limits the ability of courts to overturn that delisting through repeated litigation, a process that has kept wolves in regulatory limbo for years, and also contributed to the federal government’s extreme mismanagament of feral horses and burros. At its core, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act is about recognizing recovery success and putting management back in the hands of professionals who work closest to the land.
Supporting this legislation is not anti-wolf. It is pro-conservation and pro-long-term coexistence. Here’s our case for why this is, and what you can do about it.
What the Endangered Species Act Is, and What It Isn’t
The Endangered Species Act exists to prevent extinction and help species recover to the point where they no longer need emergency federal protections. It was (as the story goes…) never intended to keep animals listed indefinitely.
When a species is placed on the ESA, the goal should always be recovery, followed by removal from the list once biological benchmarks that are agreed by all stakeholders are met. Keeping species listed forever turns a recovery tool into a permanent regulatory status and erodes public confidence in conservation policy as well as the ability of biologists to effectively manage those animals for healthy populations and a healthy habitat.
In many regions of the country, wolves have met or exceeded the recovery goals that justified their original listing. In fact, as the Idaho Capital Sun reported in 2024, “Fish and Game officials said Idaho’s most recent wolf population estimate for May 2024 is 1,235 wolves, which they said is above the recovery goal of 150 wolves.”
Additional populations in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes are stable, expanding, and well established. Continuing to manage those wolves under federal endangered species rules no longer reflects the reality on the ground.
It’s also important to add that returning wolves to state management will, absolutely, result in more nimble and tailored localized management that is able to better address the needs of populations that are still on the upswing than federal oversight is able to provide.
Delisting wolves does not mean completely throwing the tenets of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation out. It means celebrating this massive victory of conservation, and moving on to the next, and most effective, form of management for gray wolves.
A Note on State Management
State wildlife agencies manage wildlife every day. They rely on local data, field monitoring, and adaptive management to make decisions based on habitat conditions, prey availability, and human use.
Federal ESA management often makes it difficult to respond quickly to conflicts involving livestock and pets. Ranchers and landowners who live with wolves year-round are left with limited options, which increases frustration and reduces tolerance for the species.
Returning wolves to state management allows for clearer population objectives, faster responses to depredation, and flexible tools that can be adjusted as conditions change. This approach helps resolve conflicts before they escalate and keeps support for wolves intact over the long term.
State management is not about removing wolves from the landscape. It is about keeping them there in a way that works for wildlife and people.
The Role of Sportsmen in Wildlife Management
Hunters and anglers have been central to wildlife recovery in North America since the late 19th century. Species like elk, deer, wild turkeys, waterfowl, and many upland birds were restored through regulated harvest, habitat conservation, and science-based management.
Contrary to what uneducated, emotionally-driven activists might suggest, wolves are no different. Treating them as a managed wildlife species rather than a political symbol allows conservation to function as intended. Sportsmen have a long history of supporting wildlife through funding, advocacy, and stewardship, and that same model can support healthy wolf populations.
Management that includes regulated, science-based decision making builds accountability and long-term commitment to the species being managed.
The Future of Gray Wolf Management Lies With The States
The greatest threat to wolves today is not extirpation (that will never again be allowed to happen), but social conflict. When communities feel shut out of management decisions, resentment builds and tolerance declines — the same thing is also happening in heavy grizzly bear country in the GYE, where ESA-delisting efforts also appear to be making some progress.
Returning wolves to state management gives landowners, ranchers, and local communities a meaningful role in conservation outcomes. That involvement is essential to maintaining long-term support for wolves across working landscapes.
The Endangered Species Act should be a bridge to recovery, not a destination. For wolves in much of the country, that bridge has been crossed.
Returning management to the states recognizes conservation success, allows conflicts to be addressed responsibly, and helps ensure wolves remain a lasting part of the American landscape.
Take Action: Support The Pet and Livestock Protection Act
In case it wasn’t clear, we fully support having healthy, huntable populations of gray wolves in areas where they originally existed. The best way to ensure their longevity on the landscape is to return them to state management, enabling more precise conservation actions and better resolution to conflicts with ranchers and landowners, who also deserve a say.
Wolves are doing well thanks to an incomprehensible amount of effort from people who care, and removing them from the ESL should be a celebration across the aisle.
While you can argue about the intent of the bill’s sponsors and the title of H.R. 845, the “Pet and Livestock Protection Act” (which seems a little weasel-y to us), now is the time for sportsmen and women to come together and advocate for the passage of this bill in the Senate.
We ask you, the reader, to head on over to HOWL For Wildlife and use their contact form to let your Senators know that the gray wolf deserves responsible science-based management at the state level by passing H.R. 845.
