Wolves still need federal protection from ‘states that are dead set on killing them’
Earlier this month, Collette Adkins, Carnivore Conservation Director for the Center for Biological Diversity, issued a statement regarding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services’ intention to abandon a nationwide recovery plan for grey wolves.
According to Adkin’s statement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that it no longer intends to issue a nationwide recovery plan for gray wolves. This is a disappointing and dangerous policy reversal by the Trump administration. My thoughts are below.
Kent Laudon, a wolf biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said it’s much easier to track the location and activity of a wolf if it has a radio collar.“I’m appalled that Trump wants to strip gray wolves of federal protections and turn their management over to states that are dead set on killing them,” said Collette Adkins, senior attorney and Carnivore Conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Courts have repeatedly made it clear that our country’s gray wolves have not recovered in places like the southern Rocky Mountains and West Coast. We’ll challenge the Trump administration’s unlawful decision to once again abandon wolf recovery, and we’ll win.
“This decision is unlawful because wolves remain protected under the Endangered Species Act in places like the southern Rockies, West Coast and Northeast. These wolves still need recovery plans under the law.”
The gray wolf inspires both fear and awe. To facilitate further study, this individual has blue ID tags on its ears. Wolves have been the subject of much folklore throughout civilization. The tales range from Little Red Riding Hood, tricked by a wolf dressed up as her sick grandmother, to Remus and Romulus, brothers who founded the city of Rome after being raised by a female wolf.Click here to see the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report — Recovery Planning Exception Findings for the 44-State and Minnesota Listed Entities of Gray Wolves — issued in November 2025.
According to the Summary of the Recovery Planning Exception Findings, “Based on our 2020 status review for gray wolves in the 44-State and MN entities, and our review of subsequent analyses for other populations of gray wolves in the United States that include all or portions of the 44-State and MN entities, we find that a recovery plan for the listed gray wolf entities would not promote their conservation because listing is no longer appropriate under 4(a)(1) of the Act, and measures provided pursuant to the Act are no longer necessary.”
Three pups from the Lassen Pack play in front of a trail camera a few years ago.
