Petition: Relist Wolves on the Endangered Species List

UPDATE (4/30/24): In yet another direct attack on wolf recovery efforts the United States House of Representatives voted to to remove Endangered Species List protections from grey wolves and return wolf management to state level government and wildlife officials, passing H.R.764 with 209 votes.

Anti-predator hysteria and misinformation could soon decimate America’s grey wolf population if this important native species is not protected.

Nearly 20% of the wolf population that calls Yellowstone National Park home have been slaughtered by hunters over the last few months, the largest number of wolves from the park killed in a single season since 1995. Wolves are protected from hunting while inside the park however since gray wolves were removed from the endangered species list in 2020 they can now be killed if they wander outside the park borders and hunters have been lying in wait and setting traps for these unfortunate animals who are unlucky enough to walk just beyond their protected area. The entire remaining Phantom Lake Wolf Pack was killed over two months and the park considers that pack officially “eliminated” leaving only 94 wolves in all of Yellowstone.

Wolves were removed from the Endangered Species List in 2020 under the previous administration as the result of pressure from the ranching industry. Although wolves killing sheep and cattle is nearly unheard of, ranchers in western states make enormous profits from grazing their herds on public lands and they do not want to share the space with native species. Wolves pose no threat to humans in the area, have almost no contact with commercially farmed animals, draw tourists from around the world to national parks and are a crucial part of a balanced ecosystem in western lands.

Unfortunately, widespread misinformation about the dangers of wolves coupled with the insatiable greed of hunters and ranchers has led to a string of laws in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming that allow, in some cases, the unrestricted killing of wolves and their pups using cruel traps and hunting methods that can inflict terrible suffering and slow deaths on these intelligent, family-oriented and emotionally complex creatures.

In February 2022, a federal judge restored federal protections to wolves in 44 U.S. states. However, protections were not restored to wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain Region where over 80% of the slaughter occurs. Instead of protecting their wolves, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have passed laws allowing hunters to kill up to 90% of their state’s wolves. 

If Deb Haaland were to listen to the scientists and conservationists and do the right thing, she would restore protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain region overnight on an emergency basis. Please ask her to.