A new executive order gives the Interior Department 90 days to determine whether gray wolves have recovered enough to lose federal protections, potentially reopening the door to state-managed wolf hunting in Wisconsin, Michigan and other states.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 4 directing the Department of the Interior to determine whether gray wolves have recovered enough to be removed from federal Endangered Species Act protections — a move that could eventually return wolf management to states across much of the country.
For hunters, ranchers and wildlife managers in states such as Wisconsin and Michigan, the order represents one of the most significant federal wolf-management developments in years. However, wolves were not delisted by the executive order, and existing federal protections remain in effect for now.
Interior Gets 90 Days to Review Wolf Status
Under the executive order, titled Supporting America’s Ranchers, the Secretary of the Interior has 90 days to determine whether the gray wolf and Mexican wolf have met the recovery criteria necessary for delisting or downlisting under the Endangered Species Act. If Interior determines that those criteria have been met, the administration is directed to begin the formal process of changing their protected status.
The order also directs Interior to prepare legislative recommendations for Congress concerning wolf delisting. If recovery criteria are found to have been met, federal officials are instructed to work with states and encourage them to reconsider state-level wolf protections and rules governing lethal removal of wolves involved in livestock conflicts.
The administration presented the action primarily as assistance for ranchers dealing with livestock predation. The broader executive order also addresses grazing, meat processing, livestock-loss compensation and beef labeling.
Wolves Are Still Federally Protected in Much of the Country
Despite some headlines and social-media discussion surrounding the announcement, the executive order does not immediately make wolves legal to hunt or kill in states where they are currently federally protected.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service currently lists gray wolves as threatened in Minnesota and endangered across most of the remaining Lower 48 states where federal protections apply. The major exception is the Northern Rocky Mountain population, where wolves are already federally delisted in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, along with portions of eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and north-central Utah.
That unusual patchwork is largely the result of years of administrative actions, congressional action and court decisions. The first Trump administration removed most Lower 48 gray wolves from the endangered-species list in 2020, but a federal court vacated that rule in 2022, restoring federal protections across much of the country.
What Could This Mean for Wolf Hunting?
For hunters, the biggest implications could eventually come in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, which support substantial wolf populations but currently cannot establish normal state-regulated wolf hunting seasons while federal protections remain in place.
Wisconsin is particularly significant. The state previously held wolf hunting seasons when wolves were federally delisted, and there has been continued political pressure to return wolf management to the state. Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany, a longtime supporter of delisting, praised Trump’s September 4 order and argued that wolf recovery has been achieved and management should return to Wisconsin.
Federal delisting would not necessarily mean that hunters could immediately buy a wolf tag. States would still determine their own classifications, management plans, quotas, hunting or trapping methods and season structures. Some states could authorize regulated harvest, while others could continue protecting wolves under state law.
Washington illustrates that distinction particularly well. Wolves in the eastern third of Washington are already federally delisted, while wolves farther west remain federally endangered. At the same time, wolves remain protected under Washington state law throughout the state.
Another Delisting Effort Is Moving Through Congress
The executive order is not the only federal effort targeting wolf protections. The U.S. House has passed H.R. 845, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, which would require Interior to reissue the federal government’s 2020 gray-wolf delisting rule. Importantly, the legislation would also prohibit judicial review of that delisting action — potentially preventing another court decision similar to the one that overturned the 2020 rule. The legislation has not yet become law.
Supporters of delisting argue that wolf populations have recovered sufficiently and that states are better positioned to manage wolves alongside deer, elk, livestock and other wildlife. Opponents, including several conservation organizations, argue that recovery remains incomplete in portions of the wolf’s historical range and that removing federal protections could lead to excessive mortality.
What Happens Next?
The key point for hunters is that nothing changes in the field today. Existing federal and state wolf protections still apply.
The Interior Department now has 90 days from September 4 to make its determination. If the department concludes that gray wolves meet ESA recovery criteria, the administration is directed to begin the delisting or downlisting process. That process — and almost certainly the legal and political battles surrounding it — will determine whether states such as Wisconsin and Michigan eventually regain authority to establish wolf hunting seasons.
For hunters who have watched the wolf-delisting debate move between federal agencies, Congress and the courts for years, September 4 may prove to be an important turning point — but it is the beginning of another delisting effort, not the delisting itself.
Follow Wolf Regulations With Hunterizer
Wolf regulations can be particularly confusing because federal protection, state classifications and hunting regulations can change independently — and sometimes differ even within the same state.
Hunterizer helps hunters quickly check hunting seasons, legal methods, zones, maps, bag limits and other important regulations for wolves and other game species in supported states. As federal and state wolf-management rules change, Hunterizer will continue updating the information hunters need to know before heading into the field.
