Wolves in Wisconsin

Gray wolves disappeared from Wisconsin for two decades, wiped out due to hunting, trapping, and bounties. Today, Wisconsin proudly hosts about 1,200 wolves, protected by the Endangered Species Act. However, if federal protections are removed, Wisconsin state law (s. 29.185, Wis. Stats.) mandates a wolf hunt, making our wolves inevitable targets for trophy hunting and trapping. Wisconsinites play a crucial role in the survival and recovery of wolves in our state and nationwide.

What's at Stake

Gray wolves at risk

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.

Legislative threats

Don’t 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, it’s 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 “rider” in Section 130 to remove federal protections from gray wolves in the lower 48 states.

Deadly consequences

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 February 2021, during a temporary lifting of federal protections, Wisconsin held a controversial wolf trophy hunt. The quota was set at 200 wolves—119 for hunters and 81 for the Ojibwe tribes. The tribes, respecting the wolf's cultural significance, chose not to hunt. However, the hunters killed 218 wolves in less than three days–almost double their allotted quota. Alarmingly, 86% of these wolves were chased down by packs of unleashed hunting dogs. This hunt, conducted during the breeding season, likely impacted many pregnant females.

Beyond gray wolves

Like gray wolves, the critically endangered Mexican gray wolves (‘lobos’) 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.

Your vote matters for wolves

Wolves can't vote, but you can. Your vote is incredibly powerful in shaping their future. Your vote can help save their lives.

Elect to Protect

No matter where you live, your voice and your vote are essential to protecting wolves. Take action now—before it’s too late.

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