On February 10th, 2022 a federal judge reversed a decision that removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list in the continental United States.
In late 2020, the Trump administration removed gray wolves from the endangered list and stripped their legal protections, citing “the successful recovery of the gray wolf.” The decision was reversed by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White, who ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "failed to adequately analyze and consider the impacts of partial delisting and of historical range loss on the already-listed species.”
When these protections were removed in 2020 wolf hunting spiked including in Montana. Hunters killed 24 Yellowstone gray wolves that roamed outside of their protected habitat inside the National Park, where 90 individuals remain. Wisconsin had to end its wolf hunting season early in Spring 2021 after 218 wolves were killed by hunters with dogs in less than 60 hours, far surpassing the state’s quota of 119.
With the restoration of their protected status wolf populations should be able to continue their recovery.
