The Trump Administration is Trying to Undermine Colorado’s Wolf Reintroduction

First of their line: Colorado’s historic new wolf pups have been alive for less than a year – yet the Trump administration is already threatening their future.

Coloradans voted to reintroduce gray wolves to their original habitat in 2020. Since then, a state effort has allowed new wolf packs to form. The first recorded pup was born in 2024 and additional litters in 2025, marking a new generation.

Now, the Trump administration is seeking public comments about the reintroduction program in the hopes that anti-wolf voices will undermine the wolves’ recovery.

The power of the ESA:

The wolves’ journey was enabled by Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections, which have been critical in restoring wolves to their historic range in the Northern Rockies. The ESA requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent species’ extinction and facilitate their recovery. It also sets out a process for state and federal governments to work together to bolster faltering species.

The ESA is one of the most effective environmental laws ever enacted, saving 99% of the species it has protected from disappearing forever. That includes gray wolves.

Gray wolves are native to Colorado and once populated the state. Yet a century of national wolf-hunting campaigns nearly erased gray wolves across the lower 48 states. By the 1940s, gray wolves had been eradicated in Colorado.

Gray wolves run across snow-covered terrain during capture operations in British Columbia, Canada, in January 2025. (Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife)

What could’ve been a tragic ending for gray wolves instead became a historic comeback story, thanks to federal conservation protections. After being listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1974, wolves slowly began to rebound in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and other places across the Rockies and western Great Lakes. They were successfully reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s. That population has since stabilized, drawing visitors from around the world while contributing to the park’s ecology and economy.

In Colorado, however, wolves still hadn’t regained a foothold. In 2020, Coloradans voted to restore wolves to the ecosystem, initiating a reintroduction process in which wolves have, thus far, been transported from Oregon and Canada.  State wildlife officials conducted a multi-year planning process and consulted with scientists, ranchers, wildlife advocates, and other stakeholders before beginning wolf transfers in 2023.

New threats: Since the wolves’ arrival, public support for reestablishing gray wolves has increased: a poll from Colorado Nature Action found that a growing majority of Coloradans support the reintroduction of gray wolves, and express strong confidence in Colorado Parks and Wildlife to manage the process effectively.

Despite this strong public support, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service blocked Colorado’s efforts to release more wolves in the winter of 2025, at the behest of anti-wolf livestock groups. And it is now asking the public to submit comments about Colorado’s wolf recovery program. This is likely a ploy to amplify the voices of anti-wolf groups that have repeatedly tried to thwart the reintroduction. These efforts included an industry-funded ballot measure to stop the reintroductions — an initiative that faced opposition from ranchers, hunters, conservationists, and community leaders alike and ultimately failed.

Contrary to industry narratives, the state has worked closely with ranchers and community leaders to minimize wolf-livestock conflict, developing robust resources.

A wolf sprints across a field on Colorado’s Western Slope during reintroduction release by state wildlife agents in December, 2023. (Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife)

Defending wolves in the courts: Earthjustice’s legal team has been battling for more than 25 years to give wolves a fighting chance.

A successful lawsuit in 2022 led to a federal district court restoring federal ESA protections from gray wolves across much of the U.S., including Colorado. Earthjustice and dozens of organizations across the country strongly oppose recent Republican-led bills in Congress to remove those protections again.

Our attorneys have been instrumental in challenging state management policies that push for extreme wolf population reductions in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. We sued the state of Idaho for issuing wolf-trapping and snaring polices that also threatened endangered grizzlies, resulting in a federal judge banning wolf trapping during seasons when grizzlies are not denning.

A close-up of a sedated wolf’s paw during a health check during capture operations in British Columbia, Canada, in January 2025. A team of wildlife professionals monitor vital signs, administer fluids and ensure the animal’s well-being before transport to Colorado. (Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife)

Fighting for a strong ESA: While working to advance protections for wolves, we continue to advocate for a strong Endangered Species Act (ESA) — our best legal tool for preserving our nation’s wildlife.

Industries opposed to wolf protections have powerful allies in the White House and Congress. They’ve launched an onslaught of attacks to gut the ESA. Most recently, on Earth Day, the U.S. House of Representatives planned to vote on a bill to drastically weaken the ESA. Earthjustice and our coalition of wildlife and environmental advocates worked to sound the alarm bells, and the vote was canceled for lack of support.

A big victory – but this threat to one of our most successful bedrock environmental laws could still return.

We won’t let the administration sacrifice the wildlife we love and the ecosystems that sustain them. If they try, we’ll do what we do best: take them to court to ensure species like the gray wolf are fully restored and our wild places are safe.