With last week’s announcement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will delist the gray wolf populations in the Western Great Lakes region, there are many questions as to how this will effect management of wolves in that region.

“The wolf is at a crossroads, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to delist the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment of gray wolves places wolves’ survival more in the hands of the public than in recent years,” said Walter Medwid, the International Wolf Center’s executive director.

Now that defined criteria have been met, the Endangered Species Act allows for wolf management to revert from federal to state control. As the Western Great Lakes states take the reins of wolf management, state legislatures and wildlife agencies will assume key roles in defining the future of this animal. Learn more.