Photo: Robert Larsson on Unsplash.com

By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - December 23, 2025

On December 18, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Pet and Livestock Protection Act" (H.R. 845) in a 211–204 vote. The legislation, co-sponsored by Minnesota Representatives Pete Stauber, Tom Emmer, Brad Finstad, and Michelle Fischbach, among 27 others across many states, aims to remove the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List across the lower 48. The bill would require the Department of the Interior to reissue a 2020 federal rule that returned management authority to state and tribal governments. A provision of the act is a "no judicial review" clause, designed to prevent federal courts from overturning the delisting, as has happened in the past. 

For residents of northern Minnesota, this bill revives long-standing arguments regarding the state’s wolf population and delisting. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the population has remained stable at approximately 2,700 to 3,000 animals for nearly two decades, with the agency's most recent statewide population survey (2023) estimating 2,919 wolves. Earlier this year, the Minnesota-based Voyageurs Wolf Project (VWP), which monitors wolves in and around Voyageurs National Park, released its 2024–2025 population report, which documented a 19% decrease in wolf density over the last year - the lowest level in over a decade. VWP researchers describe these shifts as the "natural ebb and flow of wolf populations as they adjust to changes in prey populations," largely driven by a 50% decline in the local deer population following recent severe winters.

Despite the population decrease recorded this year, the report notes that "all evidence indicates that the wolf population in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem is a fairly stable, high-density wolf population." Tom Gable, project lead, explained that "as prey become less abundant, wolves have a harder time finding and killing vulnerable prey," which resulted in a low pup survival rate of only 20% through the summer this past year.

Those in favor of the bill, including Congressman Stauber and the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, argue that wolves have reached sustainable numbers and that federal protections are no longer necessary. They propose shifting control to the state level, which they say will better protect livestock and pets and allow local deer populations to rebound. On the other hand, organizations such as the National Parks Conservation Association argue that a blanket delisting is premature for regions outside the Great Lakes, where wolves are still in the early stages of recovery.

The bill now lies with the U.S. Senate, where it was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works on the day of its passage in the House. Minnesota’s U.S. Senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, have historically supported transitioning wolf management to the state level, including a bill Klobuchar co-sponsored in 2023, titled "Northern Great Lakes Wolf Recovery Act." The bill, which Smith supported, would have required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to delist the population of the gray wolf within the Northern Great Lakes Region (i.e., Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, removing protection for the gray wolf in such regions. Both Senators argue that the species has met recovery goals in Minnesota and that state-led management is the intended final step of the Endangered Species Act. 

If H.R. 845 is signed into law, the DNR would take over management and follow its 2023–2032 Wolf Management Plan, which aims to ensure a stable wolf population while providing tools to minimize human-wolf conflicts. It establishes a statewide minimum of 1,600 wolves to ensure long-term viability, but that does not automatically result in a hunting season (the DNR says it would follow a framework requiring updated data, tribal consultation, and public engagement before a season could be set). This minimum serves as a state-level "safety buffer," exceeding the original federal recovery goal of 1,251 to 1,400 wolves set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By maintaining this higher threshold, the DNR hopes to ensure the population remains sustainable enough to avoid ever being placed back on the federal Endangered Species List.