Trump orders Interior to consider delisting gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act

Meanwhile, there are roughly 18,000 grey wolves across the US, though they are still considered endangered as most of their habitat has been destroyed by humans.

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Meanwhile, there are roughly 18,000 grey wolves across the US, though they are still considered endangered as most of their habitat has been destroyed by humans.

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The executive order comes as the Trump administration is seeking to lower record-high beef prices for consumers, driven by drought and an outbreak of parasites in US beef stocks.

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Gray wolves are currently protected under the act in much of the United States.

Mexican wolves, whose current U.S. range is limited to Arizona and New Mexico, are also federally protected.

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In 2024, then-President Joe Biden’s administration attempted to remove protections again, unsuccessfully.

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The order also mandates legislative recommendations, closer coordination with states on local protections, updated compensation standards for livestock losses and streamlined authorization for the lethal removal of wolves when necessary.

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Fish and Wildlife Service, the formal delisting process ordinarily requires assessing whether recovery threats have abated, publishing a proposed rule in the Federal Register, securing public and expert input, and issuing a final rule or withdrawing the action.

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Alaska currently holds the nation's largest estimated gray wolf population, followed by Minnesota, Wisconsin and Idaho, according to data compiled by the Wolf Conservation Center from federal and state wildlife agencies.

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It is part of a broader push to help ranchers.

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Northern Wisconsin Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany applauded the move.

Tiffany said the gray wolf has recovered, leaving farmers dealing with livestock depredations and families losing pets.

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The USFWS has not attempted to de-list the Mexican gray wolf, a rare sub-species that was reintroduced to New Mexico and Arizona in 1998.

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The current recovery plan for Mexican gray wolves requires a population average of more than 320 animals for four years in a row before federal authorities consider de-listing.

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The measures, long sought by GOP lawmakers from Western states, elicited a swift rebuke from animal rights groups and could draw legal challenges.

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The gray wolf and several subspecies were first listed as endangered under federal rules in the 1960s and 1970s, after centuries of westward settlement and government-backed eradication campaigns reduced their historical range in the Lower 48 states by an estimated 95%.

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Federal protections and reintroduction efforts helped lift that population from about 1,000 during the early listings to more than 6,000 by 2020, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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The gray wolf and several subspecies were first listed as endangered under federal rules in the 1960s and 1970s, after centuries of westward settlement and government-backed eradication campaigns reduced their historical range in the Lower 48 states by an estimated 95%.

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Presidents of both parties have moved to lift at least some protections, only to have those efforts stymied, and sometimes overturned, in court.

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But that recovery has fueled a long-running dispute over whether the wolves still deserve strict protections.

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The gray wolf has been protected under the ESA in Wisconsin and most other states since a federal district judge's decision in February 2022 in a lawsuit brought by wildlife advocates.

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Only non-lethal techniques such as noise, lights and fladry may be used.

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Trump announced a series of measures intended to address beef costs and domestic production issues, including an executive order for mandatory country of origin labeling for beef products, allowing more state-inspected meat to cross state lines and a new "one-stop shop" to provide technical assistant to small processors and modernize meat inspection regulations.

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When Trump read the initial statement on the wolf executive order he mentioned only the Mexican wolf.

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The move was met with support by Hunter Nation, a Kansas-based organization with state chapters, including in Wisconsin, that has been lobbying legislators on wolf issues for several years.

"The recovery of the gray and Mexican wolf is one of the greatest conservation success stories in American history, and today's executive order is the first step to restore common sense, respect for real science, and return wildlife management back where it belongs, to each state and the people who live closest to the land," said Keith Mark, Hunter Nation founder and CEO.

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If the wolf is delisted and returned to state management, Wisconsin law requires the Department of Natural Resources to hold a wolf hunting and trapping season.

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Wisconsin had an estimated 1,162 gray wolves in 321 packs in late winter 2026, according to the DNR.

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Confirmed or probable gray wolf depredations on livestock and other domestic animals in Wisconsin decreased in 2025, as did the amount of compensation paid, but were close to 5-year averages, according to DNR reports.

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The compensation dropped from $322,970 in 2024 to $200,864 in 2025.

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There has never been a wolf attack on a human in modern Wisconsin history, according to the DNR.

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