A new bill would remove federal protections for wolves across the nation

Imagine a gray wolf pup curled beside her siblings in the safety and warmth of a den. She has yet to even open her eyes. Just outside, a hunter waits, ready to enter and defile the tranquility of the den.

In states like Idaho, wolves are commonly baited, snared, gunned down from helicopters and even run over with snowmobiles.

Worst of all, this isn’t just happening on the fringes. In some places, it’s even supported and funded by state governments. And now, a new bill in the U.S. Senate threatens to bring these cruel and callous wolf killings to states across the country.

This Senate bill will strip Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves across their range

This Senate bill, just like Rep. Lauren Boebert’s bill in the House, would strip Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves across their range, opening the door to hunting, trapping and ultimately extermination of an already threatened species.

Once nearly eradicated from the Lower 48, wolves began a slow comeback thanks to the Endangered Species Act. In 1995, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone, helping restore balance to the park’s ecosystems and show just how vital wolves are as a keystone species.

Today, wolves roam more than a dozen states across the Lower 48 — but that could be undone if wolf protections are erased.

When gray wolves lose protection, thousands are killed

The bill doesn’t just remove protections, it undermines decades of hard work, ignores science and research, and removes some of the last safeguards for America’s gray wolves. It also blocks courts from intervening to restore wolf protections.

This is more than a policy shift. It’s a return to some of the darkest chapters of America’s wildlife history.

We’ve seen what happens when protections are stripped away. In 2021, wolves lost protection in Wisconsin. Hunters killed 216 wolves in just 60 hours before courts intervened.

In the Northern Rockies, wolves lost federal protections over a decade ago — and the outcomes have been both devastating and tragic.

Since 2021, more than 1,400 wolves have been killed in Idaho alone, often using cruel, even sadistic methods: running them over with snowmobiles, leaving them suffering in unchecked traps for days, or even burning pups alive in their own den.

Take action to save the wolves

Without federal protections, more states could follow suit. More packs broken. More pups slaughtered. More wolves tortured at the hands of trophy hunters.

That’s why we’re calling on Environmental Action supporters like you to raise your voice and urge your U.S. senators to oppose S.1306 and keep what protections still remain for America’s wolves in place.

We can’t risk losing such an ecologically vital and special American species.

Tell your U.S. senators to oppose this bill and make sure our gray wolves are protected and in recovery for many years to come.