Don’t Sacrifice Wolves for the Livestock Industry

Gray wolves have already been hunted, trapped, poisoned, and driven from much of the United States once. Now a property-rights group and its allies want the Trump administration to strip away federal protections that helped bring them back.

A coalition of anti-wolf groups has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves across most of the lower 48 states. Their argument? Wolves living in the United States are part of a population stretching across Canada, Alaska, Europe, and Asia.

But wolves surviving elsewhere is not a reason to abandon them here.

We already know what can happen when federal protections disappear. Wolves in much of the Northern Rockies lost federal protections beginning in 2011, handing decisions about their survival to the states. Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have since permitted aggressive wolf killing.

These states have shown why federal safeguards still matter: Montana recently estimated its wolf population at roughly 725 — substantially below the 1,094 estimated under its previous population model — after years of expanded hunting and trapping opportunities.

And there is another reason to pay attention right now.

Donald Trump just announced temporary tariff relief for up to 300,000 metric tons of imported ground cattle meat, provoking fierce backlash from the animal livestock industry. There is no evidence the administration plans to weaken wolf protections in response yet. But with livestock interests putting political pressure on Trump, wolves’ lives must not become a consolation prize.

Livestock conflicts should be addressed with proven, non-lethal solutions — not by stripping wolves of federal protection and opening the door to more hunting, trapping, and killing.

Wolves remain absent from much of the territory they once occupied. Their recovery should not be abandoned simply because wolves are surviving somewhere else outside the country.

Please sign the petition to tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reject this latest attack on gray wolves.

The petition to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik reads: Reject the petition seeking to remove Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves. Decisions about the future of this iconic native species should be guided by the best available science and the long-term recovery of wolves — not pressure from livestock, property-rights, or other special interests. Maintain existing federal protections for gray wolves and continue supporting their recovery across the United States.

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Source:

https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2026/08/21/property-rights-group-petitions-fws-to-strip-protections-for-gray-wolves-01045610