Document Type

Technical Report

Publication Date

10-2025

Department

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Abstract

In February 2024, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced their intention to develop – for the first time – a National Recovery Plan under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for gray wolves in the lower 48 states. In August 2025, a federal judge vacated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) decision denying ESA protections for gray wolves in the Western U.S.

Those events represent key context for this report, which describes the results of a web-based survey implemented in July and August of 2025 and designed to assess the attitudes of residents of the contiguous United States, as they pertain to the appropriateness of continuing protection of gray wolves under the ESA.

The survey's central result is to reveal strong support for continuing protection among all examined socio-demographic groups. Statistics that exemplify this support include: (i) across the entire sample (n=1079), 78% ± 2.5% (95% CI) expressed support for continued protection of gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act, and (ii) for every person who strongly opposes continued protection, there more than nine people who strongly support continued protection.

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