Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing the interior department to consider de-listing gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act and to contemplate whether the agency could make it easier to authorize killing them.<\/p>\n
The order gives<\/a> interior secretary Doug Burgum three months to determine whether gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves have recovered enough for the federal government to de-list them.<\/p>\n But the US Fish and Wildlife Service, a division of the interior department, has already attempted<\/a> to de-list the gray wolf \u2013 a decision that is currently tied up in litigation. A 2022 federal court order<\/a> has left wolves protected by the ESA across most of their range in the lower 48 states.<\/p>\n The major exception is in the northern Rocky Mountain states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, where states manage wolves. In Minnesota, wolves are classified as \u201cthreatened\u201d rather than \u201cendangered\u201d.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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. Arizona and New Mexico counted a total of 319 animals at the end of 2025<\/a>, triggering the first year in which officials can start counting to make the case for de-listing.<\/p>\n But Mexican gray wolves also face dire threats from lack of genetic diversity, according to Michael Robinson, an advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. Premature de-listing, he said, would likely invite challenge from environmental groups.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be fighting every step of the way, with information, with science,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cThat should be the core of the decision-making process.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s order also directs federal authorities to urge states to remove protections for gray wolves and loosen local restrictions on wolf killing.<\/p>\n The order drew sharp criticism from environmental groups.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce again, we see this administration attempting to override the checks and balances provided by bedrock environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act in order to create industry carveouts and distract from other bad policies that are proving unpopular,\u201d said Leia Barnett, New Mexico conservation lead for WildEarth Guardians.<\/p>\n \u201cDirecting federal agencies to pressure states into rolling back their own wildlife protections isn\u2019t just bad policy, it\u2019s an attempt to bypass the very framework Congress built to keep species recovery decisions insulated from political whims.\u201d<\/p>\n