Wolves in Wyoming

Wyoming's Wolf Management Plan divides the state into three areas: the Wolf Trophy Game Management Area (WTGMA), the seasonal WTGMA, and the Predator Zone. In the WTGMA and seasonal WTGMA in northwest Wyoming, hunting is regulated with set quotas to maintain the minimum population required by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, preventing significant growth and recovery for wolves. The Predator Zone, covering 85% of Wyoming, allows year-round, unlimited, and unregulated hunting, including the use of machinery like snowmobiles. A 2019 bill to outlaw "snowmobile whacking" was overwhelmingly defeated by the state legislature. This intense hunting pressure means few wolves that disperse into the Predator Zone make it as far south as Colorado, underscoring the necessity of wolf reintroduction there. Wyomingites play a crucial role in the survival and recovery ofwolves 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 Wisconsin, when federal protections were briefly lifted, trophy hunters killed 218 wolves in less than three days—more than double the allotted quota. If more wolves lose protections, we could see similar tragedies occur across the country.

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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