The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation had legal representation in a federal courtroom for a recent hearing to decide whether gray wolves in the Northern Rockies should be returned under Endangered Species Act protections. Extremists claim Idaho, Montana and Wyoming use flawed techniques to estimate their wolf populations.
According to state wildlife agencies, there are more than 1,150 wolves in Idaho, 1,100 in Montana and a minimum of 352 in Wyoming. Those population estimates mean wolves are nearly 700 percent above minimum recovery levels in Idaho and more than 600 percent above minimum recovery levels in Montana. Wyoming met minimum federal recovery criteria for the last 22 years.
RMEF strongly maintains that wolves in the region are fully recovered and should remain under state management. Environmentalist organizations repeatedly call for more wolves in the region and want them placed in states where they do not live.
“It is incumbent that these groups stick to proven science and not emotion for the sake of healthy predator and prey populations alike,” RMEF President and CEO Kyle Weaver said when RMEF filed to intervene in the lawsuit in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
In early 2024, USFWS denied two petitions filed by litigants and ruled, “Despite current levels of regulated harvest, lethal control, and episodic disease outbreaks, wolf abundance in the western United States has generally continued to increase and occupied range has continued to expand.”
Washington has at least 230 wolves, and Oregon’s population increased by 15 percent from 2023 to 2024 with an estimated minimum population of 204 animals. That population spilled over into California, which is now home to about 65 wolves in seven packs.
RMEF is a longtime advocate of delisting wolves nationwide, so state agencies can manage them in line with elk, mountain lions, mule and black-tailed , black bears and other wildlife.
RMEF intervention partners include Safari Club International and Sportsmen’s Alliance.
A ruling is expected later this year.
(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)