Gray Wolves Denied Life-Saving Endangered Species Act Protections In The Northern Rockies

We are heartbroken to report another devastating blow for wolves in the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has voted to leave the Northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves unprotected by not relisting them under the Endangered Species Act. This tragic decision will withhold protections desperately needed for wolf populations to recover in the U.S.

Federal protections were restored to wolves in much of the U.S. in February 2022, but not to wolves in the Northern Rocky states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, where over 80% of the slaughter of wolves occurs. Over 4,000 wolves have been killed in the Northern Rockies since wolves were taken off the endangered species list.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has failed wolves. States in the Northern Rockies employ aggressive, cruel, and unethical wolf killing programs and today’s decision follows that pattern – cruel and unethical. We’ll continue our fight to restore protections and end wolf hunting,” Regan Downey, Director of Education at Wolf Conservation Center, told WAN.

Montana and Idaho have an estimated population of 1,087 – 1,337 gray wolves, while Wyoming only has an estimated population of 162 wolves. In 2023, Idaho issued a wolf management plan that calls for a reduction of its population to about 500, while Montana’s draft wolf management plan seeks to reduce the current population by up to 60%. The final Montana plan is expected later this spring.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Idaho law allows the state to hire private contractors to kill wolves, allows hunters and trappers to kill an unlimited number of wolves, and allows permits year-round to trap on private lands. The law also allows hunters and trappers to kill wolves by chasing them down with hounds and all-terrain vehicles. In 2022 and 2023 alone, Idaho hunters and trappers killed more than 560 wolves.

In Montana, wolf hunters and trappers can now use night-vision scopes and spotlights on private lands, strangulation snares on public and private lands, and bait to lure wolves in. A single hunter can purchase up to 10 wolf-hunting licenses, and trappers have a “bag limit” of 10 wolves. That means someone who has both hunting and trapping tags can sadly kill 20 wolves.

Montana’s new laws also extended the wolf-trapping season by four weeks and established a bounty program to reimburse hunters and trappers for costs associated with killing wolves. Montana hunters and trappers killed 258 wolves during the 2022 “harvest season” and have already killed nearly 200 wolves in the 2023 “harvest season,” which runs until March 15th.

“The #RelistWolves Campaign is outraged that the Biden Administration – once again, has failed to protect wolves in the Northern Rockies from senseless slaughter. Wolf management in the Northern Rocky Mountain states has become so horrific as to warrant an emergency status review, but somehow does not merit federal protections. Federal protections were restored to wolves in much of the United States, but not to wolves in the Northern Rocky states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming where over 80% of the slaughter is taking place. Over 4,000 wolves have been killed in the Northern Rockies since wolves were taken off the endangered species list in 2020,” Leslie Williams and Samantha Attwood, founding members of The #RelistWolves Campaign, told WAN.

”As we see in each year’s hunting season, these states have shown that they are unwilling to implement conflict reduction techniques, which have proven effective, instead of pure slaughter,” continued Williams and Attwood. “We are not backing down and neither is our community. We will continue to fight for the immediate relisting of wolves in the Northern Rocky states under the Endangered Species Act.”

The RELIST Wolves Campaign has been working tirelessly to urge the administration to add wolves back on the Endangered Species List in the Northern Rockies. Peace 4 Animals and World Animal News have been working with the campaign for several years and we will continue to fight to #RelistWolves in every state!