The US asks states to rethink wolf protections: what's behind it

Wolves are back at the centre of politics. US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has sent letters this month to the governors of states with wolves, asking them to review their protection policies and work with her department, including on lethal control where the law allows it.

What each state is asked

According to Wyoming Public Media, the message differs by state:

• Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, home to Mexican gray wolves or recently returned gray wolves: asked to re-evaluate and potentially drop state-level protections.
• Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, which already allow hunting: asked to keep their policies.
• Letters also went to Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington and other states.

The move follows the presidential “Supporting America’s Ranchers” executive order from September. Rollins is “urging states to listen to their producers” while they wait for federal clarity.

The arguments

For the administration and ranchers, Rollins says that “for too long, America’s ranchers have dealt with wolves threatening and killing their livestock.” A 2025 American Farm Bureau Federation analysis put the cost of wolves to US ranchers at $128 million a year.

For conservationists, the fear is that decades of work to recover a keystone species could be undone. Mitch Jones of Food & Water Watch put it bluntly: going after the gray wolf “is not going to affect the price of beef or the ability of ranchers to raise cattle one iota.”

Wolves shape deer and elk populations, and with them vegetation and rivers: their role goes far beyond what you see in a pasture.

A debate Europe knows well

The argument closely mirrors Europe’s, where wolves have lost part of their legal protection under the Bern Convention and the Habitats Directive. We explain it in wolves lose protection in Europe: what changes and what doesn’t.

For hikers, nothing changes: wolves remain elusive. Find out what to do in an encounter in what to do if you meet a wolf.