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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would remove the gray wolf from federal endangered species protection across the country, and return decision making on potential wolf hunts to the states.
The "Pet and Livestock Protection Act” passed along party lines by a 211 - 204 vote. It now heads to the U.S. Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.
“The gray wolf might be one of the greatest success stories of the ESA (Endangered Species Act) and one that should be celebrated,” said Republican Congressman Pete Stauber, a bill co-sponsor who represents northeast Minnesota, which includes much of the state’s wolf range.
“Now that the species has recovered, it's time to delist,” Stauber said.
Nationwide, there are more than 7,000 wolves in two geographic regions. The densest population is in the upper Great Lakes region, where about 4,500 wolves roam the forests of northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
There are also about 2,800 other wolves spread out over seven western states, according to the latest estimate from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The core population resides in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, with smaller numbers in Washington, Oregon, California and Colorado.
The wolf population in Minnesota has hovered between roughly 2,500 and 3,000 wolves for the past few decades. Minnesota has the largest number of wolves in the lower 48 states. It’s the only state in the lower 48 where wolves were never completely exterminated.
Wolves are classified as threatened under the endangered species act in Minnesota; they’re considered endangered in other states. While under federal protection, wolves can only be killed in defense of human life.
Stauber noted that there have been several recent efforts to remove wolves from federal protection, under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
In 2011, the Obama administration delisted wolves in the Great Lakes states, returning them to state management. That led to hunting seasons in several states, including Minnesota, which held hunting seasons from 2012 to 2014, until a federal judge returned wolves to the endangered species list following lawsuits.
In 2021, the Trump administration again returned wolf management to the states. Minnesota did not hold a hunt that year, but Wisconsin held a controversial hunting season during which 218 wolves were killed in three days, far exceeding the state’s quota.
The following year wolves were again returned to the endangered species list following another legal challenge.
“It's activist groups, with the help of activist judges, who continue to choose to disregard the science and fight to keep these unnecessary protections in place,” Stauber said Thursday on the House floor.
If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the House bill would end that back and forth seesaw, because it includes a provision that would bar judicial review of the delisting.
“So if wolves lost their protections, that'd be it, unless we could convince the (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service to go back and re-list them,” said Collette Adkins, an attorney and the carnivore conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity, who is based in the Twin Cities.
Adkins doesn’t think the delisting could pass the Senate as a standalone bill. She’s more concerned about the possibility of it advancing as a rider attached to a budget bill.
That’s how wolves were delisted in Montana, Idaho and portions of neighboring states in 2011.
In Minnesota, state officials have considered wolves to be biologically recovered for more than a decade. The species was removed from Minnesota special concern status in 2013.
“As we have previously communicated to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the best available science indicates there is not a basis under the ESA for continued federal listing of wolves in Minnesota,” the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said in a statement.
Biologists say wolves are incredibly resilient; their population tends to ebb and flow in response to the number of deer in their territories, their favorite prey.
Deer hunting groups in Minnesota have called for delisting wolves at packed meetings over the past couple years. Many have blamed wolves for recent poor deer hunting seasons in the north woods.
Experts acknowledge wolves have an impact on the deer population, but say that other factors are also involved. Severe winters play the most significant role in limiting deer numbers.
Adkins says she’s primarily concerned about western states, where wolves have a more tenuous foothold, if wolf management is returned to the states.
“But I'm also concerned about all the progress towards recovery that we've made here in Minnesota and Wisconsin and Michigan being lost if protections are removed,” Adkins said.
If wolves are delisted, Minnesota could again decide to hold a hunting season. But the state's wolf management plan, adopted in 2022, doesn't take a position on a possible hunt. It includes a framework for how the state would approach making a decision, which would include Tribal consultation and public engagement.
“The DNR is committed to maintaining a well-connected and resilient wolf population in Minnesota, while seeking to minimize human-wolf conflicts and recognizing diverse human values,” the agency said. “This work is, and will continue to be, grounded in science, public input, and state and federal laws.”
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