April 12, 2013 – Gray wolf populations were extirpated from the western United Stated by the 1930s. Public attitudes towards predators changed and wolves received legal protection with the passage of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973. Subsequently, wolves from Canada occasionally dispersed south and successfully began recolonizing northwest Montana (MT) in 1986. In 1995 and 1996, 66 wolves from southwestern Canada were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park (YNP) (n=31) and central Idaho (ID) (n =35). Recovery goals of an equitably distributed wolf population containing at least 300 wolves and 30 breeding pairs in 3 recovery areas within MT, ID, and Wyoming (WY) for at least 3 consecutive years were reached in 2002. By 2012, the entire Northern Rocky Mountain Distinct Population Segment (NRM DPS) was delisted and wolves were managed under State authority in MT, ID, WY, eastern one-third of Washington (WA) and Oregon (OR), and a small part of north central Utah (UT). Based on minimum population counts, the 2012 NRM DPS wolf population contained >1,674 wolves in >321 packs with >103 breeding pairs (MT >625wolves in >147 packs with >37 breeding pairs; ID >683 in >117 packs with >35 breeding pairs; WY >277 wolves in >43 packs with >21 breeding pairs; WA >43 wolves in >7 packs with >4 breeding pairs; and OR >46 wolves in >7 packs with >6 breeding pairs). No packs were documented in Utah (UT).

Basic Information:

• Press Release August 31, 2012 Service Declares Wyoming Gray Wolf Recovered and Returns Management Authority to State
• Federal Register Notice:  Removal of the Gray Wolf in Wyoming from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Removal of the Wyoming Wolf Population’s Status as an Experimental Population
• Literature Cited

Background Information:

• Timeline of Northern Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf Recovery Efforts
• Population Trends Across the Northern Rocky Mountain Region
• Map of the Greater Yellowstone Area Wolf Population
• Map of Pack Distribution Across the Entire Northern Rocky Mountain Region

Wyoming’s Revised Regulatory Documents:

• Revised Wyoming gray wolf management plan
• Addendum to the Wyoming Gray Wolf Management Plan
• Revised Wyoming State Statutes
• Management regulations
• Hunting regulations
• FWS approval letter

Other Information:

• October 5, 2011 Proposed Rule
• December 2011 Peer Review Report
• May 1, 2012 Notice Reopening the Comment period
• May 2012 Revised Peer Review Report
• Public Comments and Other Materials

May 2011 - The Service published a direct final rule delisting wolves in Idaho, Montana and parts of Oregon, Washington and Utah. This final rule implements legislative language included in the Fiscal Year 2011 appropriations bill. The Service and the states will monitor wolf populations in the Northern Rocky Mountain DPS and gather population data for at least five years.

• Federal Register Notice
• Montana Court Decision | Appeals Court Ruling

April 2009 -- Final Rule to Identify the Northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) Population of Gray Wolf as a Distinct Population Segment (DPS) and to Revise the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

• Federal Register Notice
• Wyoming Court Decision | Montana Court Decision (vacated as moot [11/07/12])| Federal Register Rule Implementing Court Rulings

February 2008 - Final Rule Establishing and Delisting the NRM Gray Wolf DPS

• Federal Register Notice (868 KB PDF)  
• Montana Court PI Order | Montana Court Order | Federal Register Rule Implementing Court Rulings

January 2008 - Final Rule for Revision of Special Regulation for the Central Idaho and Yellowstone Area Nonessential Experimental Populations of Gray Wolves

• Federal Register Notice   

February 2007 - Proposed rule Establishing and Delisting the NRM Gray Wolf DPS

• Federal Register Notice

August 1, 2006 - FWS Announces 12-Month Finding on a Petition to Establish and Delist the NRM Gray Wolf Population:

• Federal Register Notice

January 2005 - New Regulation (10(j) Special Rule) Allows Greater Management Flexibility of Gray Wolves for the States of Montana and Idaho:

• Federal Register Notice

2003 - Final Rule to Designate 3 District Population Segments and Change the ESA Status of the Gray Wolf throughout Most of the Lower 48 States:

• Federal Register Notice (670 KB PDF)
• Oregon District Court Decision | Vermont District Court Decision
  

1994 - Establishment of Nonessential Experimental Populations of Gray Wolves:

• Federal Register Notice (HTML)
• Federal Register Notice (6 MB PDF)

1978 - Reclassification of the Gray Wolf in the United States and Mexico, with Determination of Critical Habitat in Michigan and Minnesota:

• Federal Register Notice (1.1 MB PDF)

1974 - Gray Wolf Listed as Endangered in the Lower 48 States and Mexico:

• Federal Register Notice