Conservation Advocates Petitioning To List Gray Wolf As State-Threatened Or Endangered Species

Sunday, June 15th, 2025 -- 8:05 AM

Conservation advocates are petitioning the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to list the gray wolf as a state-threatened or endangered species as Republicans in Congress seek to remove federal protections for the animal.

Wisconsin Public Radio reports that petitioners Melissa Smith and Stacy Gilson with the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance and research scientist Don Smith filed the petition Tuesday. They say the state should list the wolf due to its potential delisting and reduced capacity for federal oversight of state management as the Trump administration has slashed federal funding and staff. “By listing wolves as endangered or threatened under Wisconsin law, the state would uphold science-based population management, limit excessive hunting quotas, protect habitat connectivity, and ensure that federal monitoring efforts do not fall short due to political shifts,” petitioners wrote. A DNR spokesperson said the agency has received the petition, and will review whether wolves warrant state listing if federal protections are removed. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, both Republicans, introduced bills this year that would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a rule removing federal protections for gray wolves that would bar courts from reviewing the decision. In late 2020, the Trump administration delisted the wolf, but a federal judge restored protections in February of 2022. Tiffany said he doesn’t see the point of the petition. “It has recovered, and it’s time to delist, so why they would do that in the face of the science that is settled is quite surprising to me,” Tiffany said.

Federal wildlife regulators are required to monitor wolf populations for five years following any delisting to ensure sustainable wolf populations. In Wisconsin, a 2012 law requires a wolf hunt each year when the animal isn’t under federal protection. Smith, executive director of the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance, argued federal cuts have diminished the agency’s capacity to oversee wolves. She said the petition seeks a collaborative approach to ensure populations aren’t placed at risk from unsustainable hunts, citing the 2021 wolf hunt. State-licensed hunters killed 218 wolves in less than three days that year, going over quota. “We think that in this era of scary federal cuts for everybody that this is something that we should work on and strengthening the endangered species list in Wisconsin absolutely should be done whether or not we have that federal framework,” Smith said.

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