Though people nearly hunted wolves to extinction in the lower 48 states, northern gray wolves have returned to the Great Lakes, the northern Rockies, California and the Pacific Northwest. But just as the U.S. was making progress for gray wolves, protections were stripped. In 2011, Congress ended protections in the northern Rockies, and in 2020 the Trump administration stripped wolves of their critical ESA protections across the country. Anti-wolf legislators and extremists have been on the offensive ever since.

Wolves play a key role in keeping ecosystems healthy. They help keep deer and elk populations in check, which can 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 scavengers. Scientists are just beginning to fully understand the positive ripple effects that wolves have on ecosystems.

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

Thankfully on February 10, 2022, a judge ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) prematurely removed federal Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in most of the Lower 48 states. The decision restored protections for thousands of wolves.

You can be a part of the solution for endangered species: support our efforts to protect the wild!