USFWS: No nationwide wolf recovery plan coming

Last week the United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would not create a Nationwide Wolf Recovery Plan, stating it would be “no longer appropriate.”

“…we found that recovery plans would not promote the conservation of the gray wolf 44-State or Minnesota listed entities because listing these entities is no longer appropriate under 4(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act (Act) and measures provided pursuant to the Act are no longer necessary,” the Recovery Planning Exception Findings for the 44-State and Minnesota Listed Entities of Gray Wolves report said. “In the context of recovery planning this means that the Service includes in recovery plans all methods necessary to bring a listed species to the point at which protection under the Act is no longer necessary.” 

In 2023, the USFWS, in a settlement with Center for Biological Diversity, agreed to craft a wolf recovery plan that would include wolf populations across wolf range rather than focusing on specific states or individual regional populations of wolves. 

What this means depends on the entity responding. Center for Biological Diversity has already said it will challenge the move, meaning there is a possibility of more litigation that could drag on indefinitely. 

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation released a statement last week saying they believed state wildlife agencies, “can and should sustainably manage recovered wolf populations,” just as state agencies currently do with other wildlife populations from deer to bear. 

Protections under the Endangered Species Act currently apply to 45 states, with the species being listed as endangered in 44 of those and threatened in Minnesota. 

USFWS said, based on their analysis, Minnesota would maintain an “abundant and well-distributed” wolf population that would remain above recovery levels for the foreseeable future.

“We also concluded that Wisconsin and Michigan will maintain an abundant and well distributed wolf population in their states above recovery levels for the foreseeable future (85 FR 69883), and that the threat of human-caused mortality has been sufficiently reduced (85 FR 69883),” their report said. “Both states have wolf-management laws, plans, and regulations that adequately regulate human-caused mortality (85 FR 69883).”

More information about this finding, reactions to the decision, as well as any possible litigation will be made available here as these determinations are made.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].