Washington D.C. – Conservation groups are challenging a recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) report concluding that grey wolves no longer require federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.The report, released in December 2025, claims recovery goals have been met and that recovery plans are no longer necessary for the species, currently listed as “threatened” in Minnesota and “endangered” in 44 other states.
The Center for Biological Diversity and other organizations argue the decision to remove protections will jeopardize the species’ continued recovery, citing limited range and population size. According to the Center, the national wolf population occupies only about 15% of 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 the Center for Biological Diversity. ”This cycle of on-and-off again protections must end. Wolves deserve to be safe and that’s why we keep fighting for them.”
The USFWS report stated, “Both listed gray wolf entities…are no longer in need of conservation under the act due to recovery. We therefore conclude that recovery plans for these two entities would not promote their conservation.”
The challenge comes amid a recent court victory for wolf advocates. On August 5, 2025, a federal judge in Montana restored federal protections to wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains region, a ruling the Trump administration is currently appealing.
Conservation groups also point to the lack of federal recovery plans in states were wolf populations are still developing, such as California and Colorado. California recently launched an online tool to track collared wolves, aiding both ranchers and advocates in monitoring the species’ movements.
Recent incidents, such as gray wolves targeting cattle in Tulare County, California, highlight the ongoing challenges of wolf recovery and coexistence with livestock.
