Great Lakes Wolf Background and Recovery

Gray wolves once ranged throughout the eastern United States from Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean and from southern Canada to the Ohio River. Years of state-sponsored bounty programs habitat loss due to colonization and dwindling prey availability eliminated them from nearly the entire region, except for a small population located in northern Minnesota.

In 1974, gray wolves were one of the first species listed under the newly enacted Endangered Species Act (ESA). Through the protections afforded by the law, wolf populations slowly repopulated northern Minnesota. By 1978, wolves in the state were reclassified to a “threatened” status under the ESA. This same year, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) adopted the Eastern Timber Wolf Recovery Plan to guide their efforts to restore wolves to portions of their historic range throughout the eastern United States. The plan was later revised in 1992. As populations increased in Minnesota, individuals began to disperse into Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Years of federal protections and good stewardship by the states furthered wolf recovery, and they soon recolonized into portions of their historic range.

In 2003, the Service published a plan that reduced protections for the species throughout the lower 48 states, despite the fact that wolves were not present in remaining suitable habitat. In the eastern portion of the country, the plan combined the Northeast and Great Lakes regions into one recovery area; however, wolf recovery had not progressed in the Northeast and the ruling precluded any future recovery efforts in the region. In response, Defenders and 18 conservation organizations challenged the Service’s decision to downlist the wolf because the plan was not based solely on the best available science, as required by the federal ESA. On January 31, 2005, the court ruled for Defenders, specifically finding that the service’s actions were illegal because the agency reduced protections for wolves without determining that the species occupied all of the areas of its historic range that are required to ensure that the species will effectively recover. The court also held that the service violated the ESA by reducing protections without first addressing the threats that might still exist against the wolf -- such as habitat loss, disease or predation, overuse for scientific or commercial purposes, and whether there are other regulations in place to protect wolves if federal protections are reduced or eliminated. As a result of these failures the court rejected the plan, returning the full protections of the ESA to the species.

On March 12, 2007, the Service released a final plan that defined the boundaries for the Western Great Lakes recovery area and removed federal protections for wolves in this region, returning wolf management into the hands of the states whose management plans will guide wolf conservation. The Service is required to monitor populations for five years post-delisting to ensure that population numbers remain stable. If the wolf populations decline and the viability of wolves in this region is threatened, the Service is required to re-list the species immediately. Today, populations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are estimated at 3,020, 540 and 509 respectively.

See a timeline of wolf recovery in the Western Great Lakes region