In a major policy reversal, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced last week that a national recovery plan for gray wolves across vast swaths of the Lower 48 states is no longer necessary. The decision effectively ends a process launched under the Biden Administration and marks a significant win for advocates of science-based, state-led wildlife management.
The 10-page determination, signed by acting assistant director Gina Shultz, applies to two ESA-listed wolf entities: the 44-state population (covering most of the coterminous U.S., excluding the delisted Northern Rockies) and the Minnesota population. While federal protections under the Endangered Species Act remain in place as long as wolves stay listed, the agency invoked a settlement clause allowing it to halt planning if deemed unnecessary for conservation.
“(We) found that recovery plans would not promote the conservation of the gray wolf 44-State or Minnesota listed entities because listing these entities is no longer appropriate under 4(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) and measures provided pursuant to the Act are no longer necessary,” the USFWS stated.
Roots in a 2023 Court Settlement
The now-defunct national plan stemmed from a December 2023 federal court settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, which had sued to force broader wolf protections. That agreement required the USFWS to develop a “first-ever” nationwide recovery strategy by December 12, 2024—a deadline the agency met only to declare the effort moot.
The reversal aligns with a 2020 finding, reaffirmed in the new determination, that gray wolf populations have met or exceeded ESA recovery goals and continue expanding via natural dispersal from core areas in the Northern Rockies and western Canada.
State Plans Fill the Void
Federal officials pointed to existing state-level management frameworks, particularly in Washington and Oregon, as sufficient for ensuring long-term wolf viability. Both Pacific Northwest states maintain their own wolf conservation and management plans with built-in population targets, reducing the need for a federal overlay.
Wolves remain delisted in the eastern thirds of Washington and Oregon, where they fall under state jurisdiction. Elsewhere in those states and across much of the West and Midwest, federal ESA safeguards persist.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation quickly applauded the decision, framing it as a victory for science-based, localized wildlife management.
“The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation maintains that state wildlife agencies can and should sustainably manage recovered wolf populations just as they manage elk, black bears, deer and other wildlife species,” the organization said in a press release.
Wolf policy has long swung with changes in presidential administrations. The Trump-era USFWS delisted wolves in the Northern Rockies years ago, only for subsequent efforts to expand delistings nationwide to face repeated legal challenges. Environmental advocates had hoped a national recovery plan would lock in broader protections; its cancellation reopens the door to potential future delisting proposals.
For now, the USFWS insists the species’ trajectory justifies stepping back from a one-size-fits-all federal blueprint but has not yet initiated formal delisting. The next concrete step would be publication of a proposed rule to delist the 44-state and Minnesota wolf entities in the Federal Register. That would trigger a mandatory public comment period (typically 60 days), peer review, and analysis of economic impacts before any final rule could be issued.
Until then, the National Wolf Recovery plan is dead in the water, but full federal protections remain in effect.
