WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s newly launched review of Western gray wolf populations to determine what, if any, science-driven conservation actions are needed following recent state legislative actions.

"The recovery of the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies is a great wildlife success story. Since their delisting in 2011 and 2017, these states have been largely successfully managing healthy wolf populations. Unfortunately, too often wolves are not managed according to the best available science, or to the same standards of excellence applied to other wildlife species — especially when state legislatures disregard the expertise of professional wildlife biologists," said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “We appreciate the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service taking a hard look at the science to determine whether recent legislative actions to reduce wolf populations in certain Western states will have a detrimental effect on wolf recovery, and what steps may be necessary to ensure the recovery of healthy gray wolf populations throughout their historic range is completed, and sustained, for decades to come.”