The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Wildlife Services branch lethally removed nine gray wolves from Price County, Wisconsin, at the request of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The removal, which was conducted due to “verified threats to human health and safety in the Township of Flambeau,” was only allowed to proceed under these circumstances due to the wolves’ endangered listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 

Non-Lethal Measures Fail to Deter Habituated Wolf Pack

The nine wolves, all likely from the same pack, exhibited threatening behavior and acclimation to humans for over a year. After multiple non-lethal attempts were made to alter the wolves’ behavior, the decision was made to lethally remove them. This incident, while unfortunate, highlights the need for wolf management and downlisting or delisting under the ESA. The Sportsmen’s Alliance has been at the center of this fight, and we’ve gained some recent momentum. 

Ninth Circuit Appeals Challenge Federal Protections

Next week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear three wolf-related cases. One of those cases regards a 2020 rule issued by the first Trump administration that removed ESA protections for gray wolves across the Lower-48 states, including Wisconsin and other Great Lakes states. The Sportsmen’s Alliance filed a friend of the court brief in the case. Our brief argues that the courts are not applying the ESA as Congress intended by vacating delistings, while simultaneously calling the wolf an ESA “success story.” 

Executive Action Targets Recovery Goals Across Western Great Lakes

However, there is also a possibility that the court will never issue a decision on the gray wolf appeals. Last month, President Trump signed the Supporting America’s Ranchers Executive Order. 

This order directs the Secretary of Interior to determine within 90 days if wolves “have met the recovery criteria for delisting or downlisting under the Endangered Species Act” and to begin the process of delisting or downlisting if they have. As we’ve previously argued in court, wolves in the Western Great Lakes—Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and smaller portions of adjoining states—have long surpassed their recovery goals.

Federal Legislation and Appropriations Seek Return to State-Led Management

Simultaneously, Congress is also considering legislation to delist gray wolves. First, the U.S. House of Representatives passed long-awaited wolf delisting legislation, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, late last year. The bill, which is currently sitting in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, directs the Secretary of the Interior to remove gray wolves from ESA listing in the Lower-48 states and return their management to the states. Similar language was also included in H.R. 9171, the Department of Interior’s fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill. That rider would reinstate the lower-48 delisting rule at issue in the case above, and it’s an appropriations rider like this that ultimately led to delisting of gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains over a decade ago. 

Clearly, gray wolves are recovered in the Great Lakes. And that should be touted as a success. But it also means that wolves need to be managed, and state wildlife agencies are the appropriate entities to lead that management. 

Do not forget to share this critical email with your family and friends and urge them to use the Take Action button below to contact their U.S. Representative and Senators, urging them to delist wolves. It is imperative for Congress to hear from everyone telling them that wolves are no longer an issue they can kick down the road; they must act now.