The Trump administration is asking Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado to re-evaluate and potentially drop state-level protections for wolves. Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, which allow hunting, are meanwhile being asked to keep existing policies regarding wolves in place.
It’s part of a push by the Department of Agriculture to address ranchers’ concerns about wolves, but has environmentalists concerned it will undermine decades of work to restore the populations of the animal, which is a keystone species.
The administration cites rising costs of wolf predation in a series of letters Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sent this month to governors of states with wolves.
Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington and other states were also included.
“For too long, America’s ranchers have dealt with wolves threatening and killing their livestock, their livelihoods, and the family operations they have spent generations building,” Rollins said in an Oct. 12 news release.
“As ranchers await federal clarity on this issue, I am urging states to listen to their producers, review state-specific wolf protections, and work with USDA wherever possible to protect livestock, including through lethal removal when requested by the appropriate authorities and authorized by law.”
In a 2025 analysis, the American Farm Bureau Federation found that even modest amounts of wolf predation can significantly impact ranchers’ bottom lines in terms of cattle loss and cattle prevented from feeding before sale.
“All combined, on a ranch experiencing a modest 2% calf depredation and 3.5% weight loss that also spends the average reported amount on conflict avoidance, annual ranch revenues are reduced by 28% ($34,642),” the analysis stated.
These costs reflect $128 million in annual costs to U.S. ranchers, the analysis added.
The executive order comes amid rising grocery costs. Targeting wolves, Mitch Jones, with the advocacy group Food and Water Watch, argued, will not make beef more affordable.
“Going after the gray wolf is not going to affect the price of beef or the ability of ranchers to raise cattle one iota,” Jones said.
Jones characterized the Trump administration’s push as an effort to reassure consumers ahead of the November elections. He would rather see the Trump administration focus its efforts on reducing supply chain costs.
He additionally criticized the consolidation of grocery chains, arguing that the trend can contribute to higher food prices.
