The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that a recovery plan for gray wolves is not needed, concluding that wolves no longer meet the criteria for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The finding follows years of scientific review and comes just one year after the Biden administration announced its intent to develop a first-ever National Recovery Plan for gray wolves.
The USFWS examined two listed entities: gray wolves across 44 states and those in Minnesota. Both groups were found to have stable, well-distributed populations and robust genetic diversity. “Listing these entities is no longer appropriate under section 4(a)(1) of the Act,” the agency wrote, adding that “measures provided pursuant to the Act are no longer necessary.” Consequently, USFWS will not develop recovery plans, finding that such plans “would not promote the conservation of the gray wolf.”
The agency’s latest findings integrate comprehensive Species Status Assessments (SSAs) completed in 2023 and 2025 for gray wolves in the western and eastern U.S. The 2023 Western SSA confirmed that habitat and prey remain abundant from Washington to Colorado, allowing wolves to expand and maintain genetic connectivity. Despite regulated harvest and lethal control, wolf abundance and range “have continued to increase since reintroduction in the 1990s,” with populations projected to remain viable for the next 100 years.
In the eastern U.S., where wolves occupy the Western Great Lakes region, the 2025 SSA found that the population is large, genetically diverse and resilient. Modeling showed the metapopulation will remain stable despite human-caused mortality, disease and other stressors. “The gray wolf will successfully maintain populations in the wild in the Eastern United States into the future,” the report stated.
The findings reaffirm conclusions from the 2024 12-month review that gray wolves throughout the Northern Rocky Mountains and the western U.S. do not meet ESA definitions of “endangered” or “threatened.” While court challenges remain pending, USFWS emphasized that its analyses consistently demonstrate sustained population growth, genetic health and ecosystem stability across wolf habitats.
USFWS’ decision follows a recent ruling on Aug. 5 by a federal district court in Missoula, MT, which found that the agency had violated the ESA in its determination that gray wolves in the western U.S. did not warrant federal protection. In its decision, the court vacated the agency’s “not warranted” finding and remanded the matter to USFWS for a new determination consistent with the ESA and the best available science.
Shift in strategy
The 2025 findings follow the Biden administration’s 2024 announcement of a National Recovery Plan framework—an effort to create a single, comprehensive roadmap for wolf conservation across the lower 48 states. The administration said the plan would recognize that “the national discussion around gray wolf management must look more comprehensively at conservation tools available to federal, state, and Tribal governments.”
The goal of the 2024 initiative was to create a long-term and durable strategy—acknowledging that the debate over wolf recovery has been shaped as much by court rulings and politics as by science. USFWS said it would seek to engage communities, including ranchers, conservationists and Tribal governments, in developing solutions that balance livestock protection, wildlife conservation and community security.
At the time, USFWS noted that there were approximately 2,797 wolves across at least 286 packs in seven western states, representing a population with “resiliency, redundancy, and connectivity.”
Call for delisting
Following the release of the latest findings, pressure to delist the gray wolf intensified. Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI-01) and a coalition of 24 House members are urging newly confirmed USFWS Director Brian Nesvik to remove the species from the ESA list and return management authority to the states and Tribes.
The lawmakers emphasized that the species’ recovery is one of the ESA’s greatest success stories, noting that gray wolves have long surpassed federal recovery targets thanks to cooperative efforts among states, Tribes, private landowners and conservation partners.
The letter criticized repeated court rulings that have vacated USFWS delisting decisions and imposed a “a new, unlawful standard” requiring a species to fully recolonize its historic range before being delisted. The members argued that this interpretation defies both congressional intent and the agency’s longstanding scientific framework, which focuses on whether a species is self-sustaining in its current range.
“As such, we urge FWS to reissue the rule delisting the gray wolf under the ESA, and to stand firmly behind the authority of states and tribes to manage recovered species, including through regulated hunting and other proven tools that help reduce human-wildlife conflict while sustaining healthy populations,” the letter concluded.
Conservationists chime in
Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States), condemned the agency’s decision as a grave mistake.
“This conclusion flies in the face of the best available science,” Block said, arguing that wolves in the lower 48 “have not recovered from the historic killing campaigns that almost wiped them out” as they continue to face threats from poaching, habitat loss and hostile state policies.
Block emphasized that continued federal protections for wolves are essential and warned that without ESA safeguards, wolf management will be left to states with “bad-as-can-be track records when it comes to coexistence.” She noted that predators cause fewer than 1% of livestock deaths, and that nonlethal deterrents are more effective than widespread culling. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
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