Gray Wolf

The gray wolf is an icon of wilderness, captivating imaginations and inspiring stories, legends and folklore. Unfortunately, however, people nearly hunted wolves to extinction in the lower 48 states, which required gray wolves to be placed under Endangered Species Act protections in 1974. Since then, gray wolves’ numbers have rebounded in the Great Lakes, Northern Rockies, Colorado, California and the Pacific Northwest thanks to dedicated conservation and coexistence work by advocates and groups like Defenders. But just as the U.S. was making progress for gray wolves, some federal protections were eliminated. In 2011, Congress removed protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, and in 2020 the Trump administration stripped them of their critical ESA protections across the rest of the country. Defenders went to court over the ruling, and won at the district court, but anti-wolf legislators and extremists have been on the offensive ever since.

Wolves play a key role in keeping ecosystems balanced. They help keep deer and elk populations healthy—typically choosing older or sick individuals as prey—which can in turn benefit many other plant and animal species. The carcasses of their prey also help to redistribute nutrients and provide food for other wildlife species, like grizzly bears and other scavengers. Scientists are just beginning to fully understand the positive ripple effects wolves have on ecosystems.

The Trump administration’s premature decision to strip gray wolves of their federal ESA protections was nothing less than a betrayal of wildlife and of the advocates who spent decades helping to bring wolves back from the brink of extinction.

Though a judge invalidated this action in 2022, in 2024 the FWS filed its brief in the appeal of that decision, renewing its defense of the  of ESA protections. Gray wolves have made monumental progress toward recovery but have yet to re-establish sustainable populations in much of the available habitat across the contiguous United States.

Wolves in the Northern Rockies states—Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming—have been exempted from the ongoing federal ESA listing battle in the rest of the lower 48. These states steadfastly display their intolerance toward gray wolves, underscoring why federal protections need to be restored in the region. Montana and Idaho have 1,096 and 1,550 gray wolves respectively, while Wyoming has an estimated 352 wolves, roughly half of which reside in Yellowstone National Park and are protected when inside park boundaries. 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 as much as 60%.  

Read a full history of gray wolf protections in the U.S.

Help secure full protections for gray wolves: support our efforts to protect this icon of wilderness!