Wolves are fighting for survival and they need protection.
When Endangered Species Act protections were removed from Northern Rockies wolves, a portion of north-central Utah was included in the delisting. Wolves in this area are subject to state law while those in the rest of the state remain federally protected. Utah has taken measures to prevent wolf packs from establishing within the delisted portion of the state and has requested that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service immediately remove any wolves discovered in areas where they remain protected. Tragically, in 2015, Echo, the first gray wolf spotted in Grand Canyon National Park in over 70 years, was shot and killed by a hunter in southern Utah. While there have been occasional wolf sightings, no packs call Utah home anymore. Even without a wild wolf population of our own, Utahans play a crucial role in the survival and recovery of wolves nationwide.
Today, gray wolves survive in just 10% of their historical range in the lower 48 states. The Endangered Species Act offers them the strongest legal protection, prohibiting hunting and trapping. However, wolves in the Northern Rockies have already lost these federal safeguards, and new legislation threatens others.
Donât be deceived by the name. The Trust the Science Act (H.R. 764/S. 1895) aims to strip federal protections from gray wolves across the U.S. and prevent judicial review, meaning courts would have no power to overturn it. Having narrowly passed the House, itâs now under Senate consideration. Additionally, the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 (H.R. 8998), currently circulating in Congress, includes a âriderâ in Section 130 to remove federal protections from gray wolves in the lower 48 states.
Without federal protections, hundreds of wolves are slaughtered each year in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming under extreme anti-wolf laws passed in these states. In Wisconsin, when federal protections were briefly lifted, trophy hunters killed 218 wolves in less than three daysâmore than double the allotted quota. If more wolves lose protections, we could see similar tragedies occur across the country.
Like gray wolves, the critically endangered Mexican gray wolves (âlobosâ) in Arizona and New Mexico are facing similar legislative threats, while red wolves in North Carolina are clinging perilously close to extinction in the wild. The urgency to protect America's wolves could not be greater.
Now is the time to actâbefore its too late. Vote for officials who will protect wolves and raise your voice for their future.
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