President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 4 directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to decide within 90 days whether to strip Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves and Mexican wolves. The order, titled “Supporting America’s Ranchers,” also instructs Burgum to prepare a legislative recommendation for full delisting or downlisting and encourages states to revise their standards for killing wolves to benefit ranchers.

Gray wolves were nearly wiped out across the Western United States by the 1940s through government extermination campaigns, congressional bounties, and poisoning. They were added to the Endangered Species List in 1974. The federal government reintroduced wolves from Canada into Idaho and Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996. Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana began delisting wolves in 2011, and those states have operated under state management since.

Idaho’s wolf population stood at an estimated 1,129 animals in 2025, a drop of roughly 100 from the prior year. State officials credited aggressive hunting and trapping for the decline.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins framed the order as part of the administration’s broader effort to rebuild what she called the Great American Cattle Herd, contrasting the current approach with what she described as the Biden administration’s hostility toward ranching under environmental mandates.

Opponents of the order argue the move is premature. Collette Atkins, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said removing protections could be devastating to wolf populations that have not yet met recovery goals. The Center for Biological Diversity said it intends to challenge any delisting attempt in court.

Carter Niemeyer, a former government trapper who became a wolf advocate, called the order a distraction. He pointed to U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services data showing wolves kill roughly 200 livestock animals per year across Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming combined. With more than 6 million cattle and cows across those three states, wolf predation accounts for less than one-tenth of one percent of livestock losses.

Burgum’s 90-day window runs from the September 4 signing date, meaning a determination is due by early December.