On April 15, 2011, President Barack Obama signed a budget bill passed by Congress that included a rider stripping Endangered Species Act protections from wolves in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Utah.

This marks the first time that Congress has taken a species off the endangered species list, and sets an extremely bad precedent placing politics over science in management decisions.

Protections for some 1,300 Northern Rockies gray wolves were lifted effective with a notice published on May 5, 2011, in the Federal Register. In the notice, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reissued the 2009 delisting rule for wolves in the region, and Idaho and Montana planned public hunts for hundreds of wolves.

As of early 2012, though, Endangered Species Act protections are still in place for wolves in Wyoming. However, this could change, because in August 2011, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials reached an agreement (contingent on pending approval from the state legislature) that would allow the state's wolves to be delisted.

Essentially that plan would create a wolf trophy game zone in the northwest corner of Wyoming, but in the 88 percent of the state outside that zone, wolves would be considered predators and could be killed at any time, by any means, without a hunting license. As it now stands, the plan would draw the line between the trophy game and predator areas along Hwy. 89 next to the Palisades Reservoir during winter months, and along Hwy. 22 between Jackson and Wilson the rest of the time, meaning that wolves could be shot on sight or worse in southern Teton County eight months out of the year. (We’ll keep you posted on this issue as it plays out. Please click here for our January 2012 Alliance Action item regarding wolves in Wyoming. Click here for our December 2011 AA item and here for our November AA item, and for our September AA item, click here.)

In spite of the political machinations by which wolves were removed from Endangered Species Act protection, it’s important to keep in mind that the return of the wolf to the Northern Rockies is a remarkable achievement in wildlife conservation. Twenty years ago, no wolves lived in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem; today, nearly 1,700 roam the region – some 500 in the Greater Yellowstone alone. The reintroduction in 1995 and 1996 of 31 Canadian-born wolves to Yellowstone National Park helped restore a balance that had existed for thousands of years prior to the wolves’ extermination in the early 1900s. Now, it’s up to the western states to show they can manage wolves in a way that ensures survival of the species.

As far as Wyoming goes, the Alliance believes that the state needs to use the best available science for a wolf management plan that will work for the health of all species – predators and prey alike. Our goal is for wolves to remain fully protected on the National Elk Refuge and in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, and beyond that, our goal is for wolves to be managed as trophy game – not as animals that can be killed on sight – in as much of the state as possible. We’re also working to encourage the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to use the best science in managing wolves to ensure their long-term viability.

For more information, contact Louise Lasley at (307) 733-9417 or Louise@jhalliance.org.

Northern Rockies Gray Wolves Timeline:

Late 1920s: It's generally assumed that the last of Wyoming's original wolves was killed in 1927, however sightings were reported as late as the early 1940s.

Late 1930s: Most wolves have been exterminated everywhere in the United States, except for Northern Minnesota.

1973: Congress passes the Endangered Species Act.

1974: Gray wolves are listed as an endangered species in 47 of the lower 48 states. (They're listed as threatened in Minnesota.)

1995 and 1996: Thirty-one Canadian-born wolves are released into Yellowstone National Park.

March 28, 2008: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list, and their management shifted from the federal government to the game departments in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. In Wyoming, this meant that wolves venturing into the newly created predator zone (88 percent of the state) were subject to being killed by anyone at any time and by nearly any means.

April 28, 2008: The Conservation Alliance, along with 11 other organizations, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Montana to have the delisting decision overturned. The original recovery goal for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies was to build a total population of 300 -- about 100 in the greater Yellowstone area (mostly in northwest Wyoming), 100 in central Idaho and 100 in northwest Montana. The federal government's original objective, which was drafted in 1987 and finalized in 1994, also called for at least 30 breeding pairs spread across the three groups, and some genetic interchange among them to prevent inbreeding. During 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that there were about 1,500 wolves in the three states and more than 100 breeding pairs. But a geneticist with the Natural Resources Defense Council (one of the lawsuit participants) says that scientists now understand that there should be 2,000 to 5,000 wolves in the Northern Rockies before the federal government can call the species "recovered" here. (Click here for more information about the lawsuit.)

Also on April 28: The conservation groups also filed a request for an immediate injunction that would return wolf management to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service while the above case was being heard.

July 18, 2008: The above injunction took effect on July 18, when U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy granted our request and reinstated Endangered Species Act protection for wolves in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho while our lawsuit challenging delisting worked its way through the courts. In his injunction ruling, Molloy said the federal government had not met its own standard for wolf recovery, and that wolf-control laws in the three states were "more than likely to eliminate any chance for genetic exchange to occur." Such exchange is needed to ensure healthy wolf populations. In the wake of Molloy’s decision, all three states postponed their plans to establish wolf-hunting seasons this fall. For more information about the injunction ruling, click here.

Sept. 19, 2008: Wyoming State Rep. Keith Gingery (R-Jackson) announced plans to introduce a bill during the next legislative session to change Wyoming's current "dual classification" wolf management plan. Gingery's proposed bill would remove Wyoming's wolf predator zone, and instead make the entire state a trophy game zone, where people would have to apply for wolf hunting licenses.

Sept. 22, 2008: It was expected that the federal government would appeal Molloy's injunction decision. But instead, on Sept. 22, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began the process of having wolves relisted. Click here for a press release about the action.

Sept. 29, 2008: A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled in another wolf case, this one brought by animal rights and pro-wolf groups challenging U.S. Fish and Wildlife's final rule delisting the Western Great Lakes wolf population. In this case, the judge ruled that the agency erred in delisting those wolves in February of 2007. The judge found that Fish and Wildlife’s decision to break wolf populations into distinct population segments violated the Endangered Species Act, thus making the delisting order illegal. (We had also challenged Fish and Wildlife’s decision to segment the Northern Rockies wolf population, but the judge in our case focused on other issues, such as population connectivity and shortcomings of the states’ wolf management plans.)

Oct. 14, 2008: U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy granted Fish and Wildlife's motion to withdraw its delisting rule, making our lawsuit moot. For now, Northern Rockies gray wolves are officially back on the list of endangered species. Click here for a PDF of the judge's order.

Oct. 27, 2008: The Associated Press reported that Doug Smith, wolf project leader for Yellowstone National Park, predicted that the park's wolf population would continue to decline in 2009 due to disease (probably distemper), and to a relatively high number of adult wolves killing other wolves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recently released midyear census figures for Wyoming counted 332 wolves in 34 recognised packs statewide, including those in Yellowstone National Park, versus 362 wolves in 33 packs in 2007. The number of breeding pairs in Wyoming also declined from 27 in 2007 to 22 in 2008.

Oct. 28, 2008: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asked the public to comment again by Nov. 28 on its unchanged 2007 proposal to delist Northern Rockies gray wolves. On Nov. 3, 13 groups including the Alliance formally asked the government to extend the comment period to January, but, in a letter dated Nov. 25, this request was denied. Click here for a PDF of the Conservation Alliance's comments.

Jan. 12, 2009: Yellowstone National Park officials reported that the number of wolves in the park declined from 171 in 2007 to 124 in 2008. The number of breeding pairs in Yellowstone also decreased from 10 to six, marking the lowest number recorded since 2000. Distemper, mange and wolves killing each other are the most likely causes of the decline, park biologists said.

Jan. 14, 2009: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it will remove Northern Rockies gray wolves from federal protection everywhere but Wyoming.

Jan. 21, 2009: The day after the Jan. 20th inauguration, the incoming Obama administration took immediate steps to halt implementation of last-minute rules and regulations made by the outgoing Bush administration. All changes proposed that had not yet been published in the Federal Register (including wolf delisting) were put on hold pending re-evaluation.

March 6, 2009: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the federal government's decision to proceed with eliminating Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the northern Rockies, except for those in Wyoming.

April 2, 2009: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its new delisting rule for Northern Rockies gray wolves in the Federal Register; Conservation groups including the Alliance, represented by Earthjustice, served Fish and Wildlife with a notice that the delisting violates the Endangered Species Act.

May 4, 2009: The new delisting rule took effect.

June 2, 2009: A coalition of 12 conservation groups represented by Earthjustice filed suit in U.S. District court in Montana against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its decision to remove wolves in Montana and Idaho from Endangered Species Act protection.

August 21, 2009: The coalition, which includes the Conservation Alliance, asked a federal district court to block fall wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana.

Sept. 8, 2009: U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued an order finding that the delisting of wolves in the northern Rockies was likely illegal. But he declined to stop wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana, because the coalition did not prove that a single hunting season at these levels in Montana and Idaho would "irreparably harm" the wolf population as a whole.

August 5, 2010: U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy ruled that the Endangered Species Act does not allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list only part of a species as endangered, and ordered that Fish and Wildlife's April 2, 2009, rule delisting wolves in Montana and Idaho must be set aside. This ruling effectively reinstated ESA protections for all Northern Rockies gray wolves. Essentially, Molloy ruled that wolves in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana either all have to be under federal protection, or all under state management plans that ensure the viability of the species."The Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf distinct population segment must be listed, or delisted, as a distinct population and protected accordingly," Molloy wrote in his decision. (Click here for Molloy's complete ruling, and here for our press release about it.)

March 18, 2011: Ten conservation groups including the Alliance reached a legal settlement with the U.S. Department of the Interior regarding wolf recovery and management in the Northern Rockies. Click here for details.

April 9, 2011: U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy rejected the March 18 settlement. The same day, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana and U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho announced that House and Senate appropriators had agreed to include their proposal to remove Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves as part of a compromise to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. Click here for an April 10 Associated Press story that explains what these two news items could mean for wolves in the Northern Rockies.

April 15, 2011: President Obama signed the budget bill passed by Congress, which included an attachment stripping ESA protections from wolves in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Utah. This marks the first time Congress has taken a species off the endangered species list, and sets a bad precedent placing politics over science in management decisions.

Oct. 15, 2011: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service posted its proposed delisting rule for wolves in Wyoming. Comments were due by Jan. 13, 2012; click here for details. To read comments that the Alliance submitted, click here.