Idaho wolves will remain under state control despite judge's decision

Idaho’s wolves will remain under state authority despite a judge’s recent decision that calls for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider a previous determination that relisting wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was not warranted. 

Idaho could eventually be affected because the court case involves the ESA status of wolves across the Western U.S. where there’s a mix of federally protected wolves – and federally unprotected wolves – depending on which state they’re in. 

“We’re extremely disappointed with the decision considering Idaho has managed a wolf population above federal recovery goals for decades and sustained more-than-adequate wolf populations since Congress removed them from Endangered Species Act protection in 2011,” said Jim Fredericks, Director of Idaho Fish and Game. 

Idaho’s most recent wolf population estimate from spring 2024 is 1,235 wolves, which is well above the recovery goal of 150 wolves, and more than twice the number identified in the federal delisting rule written in 2009.

“We monitor wolves and continue to manage them in accordance with our management plan to ensure the population exceeds federal recovery criteria while staying within the ecological and social carrying capacity of Idaho,” Fredericks said. “Wolves are polarizing, and some people simply don’t believe wolves should be hunted or trapped at all. Where we have sustainable populations, we believe those decisions should be left to the states, and not dictated by the federal government or the Courts.”

In responding to a petition for relisting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that that the Northern Rocky Mountain distinct population segment, which includes Idaho, is no longer a separate population, but part of the larger wolf population for the entire Western states outside of Alaska. The Service found that wolves in the western U.S did not belong on the Endangered Species List, but the judge disagreed with the Service’s reasoning.

Idaho argued against identifying the entire Western U.S. as a distinct population segment, and advocated that Fish and Wildlife Service continue to separate the Northern Rocky Mountain population, consistent with the delisting directed by Congress in 2011.