USFWS Promised National Wolf Recovery — Then Walked Away

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) — one of the agencies responsible for protecting endangered species — has just announced its intent to walk away from wolves.

After years of promising a national wolf recovery plan, USFWS has quietly decided it won’t release one after all. Even worse, the agency now claims wolves no longer need Endangered Species Act protections.

This decision isn’t based on science or the law — we know this because biologists, legal experts, and former agency leaders — including a former USFWS Director — have spoken out against it. 

Wolves across the U.S. are far from secure. In the Great Lakes, numbers remain fragile. In the Pacific Northwest and beyond, wolves are just beginning to reclaim a fraction of their former habitat. Across much of the country, they are still targets of persecution, habitat loss, and state-sanctioned killing seasons. In Montana alone, they plan to kill half of the wolf population.

And just months ago, a federal court ruled that USFWS broke the law by ignoring its duty to protect the same wolves it signaled its intent to abandon. Yet instead of fixing its mistakes, the agency – now led by a former director of the wildlife agency in one of the most anti-wolf states in the nation (WY) – is doubling down on failure.

Every time USFWS turns its back, wolves pay the price. State-sanctioned hunts have already wiped out thousands of wolves across the Northern Rockies. Family packs are shattered, ecosystems destabilized, and the fragile progress of decades undone in a single season. Without strong federal leadership and national coordination, these tragedies will only continue — and entire regions that could once again echo with the howl of wolves may fall silent forever.

In Wisconsin, at least 216 wolves were killed in less than 60 hours during its last legal hunt in 2021, exceeding the state quota of 119 wolves. This is what awaits if USFWS walks away from wolves.

USFWS should be leading the charge to restore wolves — not declaring “mission accomplished” while wolves remain missing from most of their native lands.

Please sign this petition to demand that USFWS honor its promise and protect wolves nationwide.
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Sources

https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/08/06/federal-court-overturns-decision-denying-endangered-species-protections-to-wolves/

https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/20251103_GrayWolfRecoveryPlanExceptionFindings_FINAL.pdf

https://www.humaneworld.org/en/blog/trump-administration-delist-wolves