Trump Administration Removes Grey Wolves From Endangered Species Act Protection
The Trump administration has formally removed grey wolves from the Endangered Species Act, eliminating federal protections across the contiguous United States. This decision, enacted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, returns management of the species to individual states and tribal governments.
Donald Trump stated the measure aims to assist ranchers, particularly in Western states, who have long argued that wolf populations, especially the estimated 4,400 across the Great Lakes region, pose a threat to livestock. Farmers and hunters have also supported delisting, citing successful recovery efforts since the species was first listed in 1974.
However, conservation organisations have condemned the move, arguing it prematurely undermines decades of work to re-establish wolf populations. Environmental groups, including the Centre for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice, have pledged legal challenges, asserting that the delisting is based on political expediency rather than scientific evidence of full recovery. They highlight that significant wolf populations remain concentrated in a few states, and the species occupies only a fraction of its historical range.
This marks the culmination of a protracted political battle over wolf management. Earlier attempts to delist the species under previous administrations faced successful legal challenges from environmental advocates.
