The gray wolf population in the U.S is distributed among 3 main regions. There is a decent population of gray wolves in the Great Lake region, holding around 3,765 wolves. This region includes Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Another population within the contiguous U.S includes the Northern Rocky mountain region, holding around 1,782 individuals. The most predominant population of gray wolves in the U.S is held within Alaska, with a population amounting to 7,700-11,200 (USFWS et al 2018). Apart from these populations, there is an experimental population located within a study region ranging from Arizona to New Mexico with 113 total individuals. The history of the gray wolf on the ESA is complicated. Wolves were first listed in the ESA in 1974, a year after the ESA was created with Nixon as president in 1973. The reintroduction of wolves in the U.S made locals concerned about the loss of livestock, and an addition was made in the ESA to give the Interior Department the ability to claim a population experimental and nonessential (EarthJustice et al 2021). With sufficient lobbying from communities around the U.S, the gray wolf was reclassified as threatened in 2003. The gray wolf was delisted from Wyoming in 2008, with contingencies that individual states had management plans. Farmers were allowed to shoot and kill wolves so long as it could be proven they were the cause of a dwindling population of cattle. The wolves relationship with the ESA was rocky from 2008-2020 when they were finally delisted from all contingent states with the Trump administration. This delisting is controversial to say the least. It has been argued that only the populations in the Great Lakes region were considered, with no scientific evidence backing up that populations near the Rockies were stable. Petitions and suits have been filed by EarthJustice and several other organizations to relist wolves. This blog will evaluate the current state of research and our group’s decision on the future of the gray wolf on the ESA.