Washington D.C. – Conservation groups areโค challenging โa recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) report โconcluding that greyโ wolves no longer require federal protection under the Endangeredโ Species Act.The report, released in December 2025,โ claims recovery goals have been met and that recovery plans โare no longer necessary for โคtheโ species, โcurrently listed as “threatened” in โขMinnesota and “endangered” โin โ44 other states.
The Center for Biological Diversity and other organizations argue the decision to remove protections will โjeopardize the species’ continued recovery, โคciting limited range and population size. According to the โCenter, theโ national โwolf population occupies โขonly โฃabout 15% ofโ its historical range and remains at roughly 1% of its historical numbers.
“We know that Trump’s plan to strip gray wolves of lifesaving protections will be a disaster because we’ve seen it before,” said Andrea Adkins of โฃthe Center for Biological Diversity. โ”This cycle of on-and-offโ again protections must end. Wolves deserve โto beโข safe and that’s why we keep fighting for them.”
Theโฃ USFWS โขreport stated, “Both listed gray wolf entitiesโฆare โคno longer inโ need of conservation underโ the act due โto recovery. We therefore concludeโข that recovery plans for these two entitiesโข would not promote their conservation.”
The challenge comes amid a recent court victory for wolf advocates. On โฃAugust 5, 2025, a federal judge โขin Montana restored federal protectionsโ to wolves in the northernโ Rocky Mountains โขregion, a ruling the Trump administration is currently appealing.
Conservation groupsโค also point to the lack of federal recovery plans in states were wolf populations are still developing, such as California and Colorado. California recentlyโ launched an online tool to track collared wolves, โaiding both ranchers and advocates in monitoring the species’ movements.
Recent incidents, such as โคgray wolves โtargeting cattle in Tulare County, California, highlight the โongoing challenges of wolf recovery and coexistence with livestock.
