Why It Matters: The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides an established process for determining whether recovered species should remain federally protected. The Department of the Interior (DOI), through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), can conduct a species status review at any time, but elevating such a review among USFWS’ ESA priorities can be helpful. After years of litigation surrounding gray wolf delisting decisions, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) appreciates the Administration’s direction to prioritize a renewed scientific review under that process to determine the appropriate status of the species.
Highlights:
- On September 4, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) that calls on the Department of the Interior to determine whether gray wolves have met the Endangered Species Act’s recovery criteria for delisting or downlisting.
- If those criteria have been met, DOI is instructed to begin the appropriate delisting or downlisting process.
- CSF supports wildlife management decisions based on the best available science, including through the established processes of the ESA.
Gray wolf management has been the subject of regulatory and legal uncertainty for years. Gray wolves have repeatedly been delisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service based on scientific findings, only for those decisions to be challenged and overturned in federal court. This endless cycle of scientific delisting and judicial reinstatement has created continued uncertainty around gray wolf management and has undermined the integrity of the ESA’s established, science-based process.
In areas where wolves remain delisted, including Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and portions of Washington, Oregon, and Utah, states have continued to manage the species successfully. USFWS has found those populations to remain biologically recovered and well above federal recovery levels, and in 2024 concluded that existing state management and regulatory frameworks were adequate to maintain the continued viability of western gray wolf populations.
The new EO raises the status review as a priority and provides an opportunity for USFWS to evaluate gray wolves using the ESA’s established recovery criteria and the best available science. Consistent with its longstanding position, CSF continues to support science-based wildlife management and clear, durable management decisions.