Gray wolves could be removed from the federal Endangered Species Act under a bill reintroduced by Republican U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin on Friday. 

The Pet and Livestock Protection Act would restore a 2020 rule from the first Trump administration — which was later repealed by a federal district court in 2022 — and turn management of gray wolves back to the states. It includes a provision to ensure the action is not subject to judicial review. 

Boebert and Tiffany also introduced the act last Congress session. While it passed the House of Representatives, it failed to make it through the Senate. 

---

---

In a news release, Boebert indicated that the legislation would be a “major victory for our country’s agriculture community” due to the threat that gray wolves pose to the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers. 

The act was co-sponsored by 30 members of Congress, including Colorado Republican Reps. Jeff Crank, Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd. Several stakeholder groups expressed support including the Colorado Farm Bureau and the Colorado Wool Growers. 

---

---

Gray wolves were first listed as endangered in the United States and Mexico under the Endangered Species Act in 1978. The only exception is in Minnesota, where gray wolves were, and still are, considered a threatened species, which is a step below endangered.

Today, gray wolves are listed as an endangered species under the federal act in 44 states. 

In November 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved to delist gray wolves. In its decision, the federal agency said the predators were “no longer in danger of extinction or at risk of becoming so in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of the species’ range.” 

The rule went into place on Jan. 4, 2021, but was challenged by multiple environmental groups. 

A federal district court in California overturned the rule in February 2022, restoring the endangered status of gray wolves. According to AP News, the judge stated that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to show wolf populations could be sustained in certain regions without federal protection. 

The Biden administration appealed this decision in April 2022, seeking to again delist gray wolves in the lower 48 states. The Department of the Interior filed its opening brief in the case in September. 

The federal agency is crafting a nationwide gray wolf recovery plan for publication by December 2025. In its February 2024 announcement of the plan, Fish and Wildlife stated that this plan would address courts’ concerns that the agency doesn’t have a plan to sustain gray wolves without the current protections.

In response to comments that delisting would hinder recovery of the species, a Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson told the Vail Daily in September that it would offer an alternative path for species’ restoration.  

“The Department of the Interior remains steadfastly committed to the protection, preservation and longevity of gray wolves,” according to the statement. “We recognize that this work must go beyond the Endangered Species Act to facilitate a durable and holistic approach to wolf recovery.”

Whether through a court ruling or federal legislation, pulling back the federal protections for gray wolves would push management to the state level. 

Colorado began efforts to reintroduce gray wolves in December 2023, following through on a voter-approved mandate to establish a population of the carnivores in the state. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is the first state agency to lead the reintroduction of wolves in its state, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service leading previous efforts including in Yellowstone National Park and Idaho. 

Since then, Parks and Wildlife has brought in 25 wolves from Oregon and British Columbia. With wolf births, deaths and natural migrations from other states, the wildlife agency is currently managing a population of 29 wolves. 

In Colorado, gray wolves are considered “state endangered” in addition to being listed as endangered under the federal act and as an experimental population under a special rule from the Fish and Wildlife Service. While removing gray wolves from the federal act would invalidate this special rule, it would not change the state’s management. The state would continue to follow its Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, according to previous statements from Travis Duncan, the agency’s public information officer. 

Colorado’s reintroduction of wolves has been met with controversy, as Parks and Wildlife walks a tightrope between following the voter mandate and managing the population for biological success with the needs and concerns of ranchers. 

Boebert called the state’s approach to the reintroduction efforts “dysfunctional and chaotic” in a January statement issued alongside Crank, Evans and Hurd. In the joint statement, the lawmakers supported efforts to delist the species and stop further importation of gray wolves from out of the country.