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Project Coyote Denounces Trump Executive Order Targeting Endangered Species Act Protections for Gray and Mexican Gray Wolves
Order Directs Interior Department to Pursue Delisting, Pressure States to Roll Back Their Own Wolf Protections in the Name of “Supporting Ranchers”
LARKSPUR, CA September 14, 2026 – Project Coyote, a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting wild carnivores and promoting coexistence between people and wildlife, today condemned an executive order signed by President Trump directing the Secretary of the Interior to pursue the removal of Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves. The order, framed by the administration as an effort to “support America’s ranchers,” also directs federal officials to press states to weaken their own wolf protections and to loosen the evidentiary standards required to authorize killing wolves blamed for livestock predation.
“Wolves are not the threat to ranchers that this executive order pretends they are,” said Camilla Fox, founder and executive director at Project Coyote. “Both science and real-world experience show that wolves account for a tiny fraction of livestock losses, and coexistence tools like range riders, carcass removal, and non-lethal deterrents work. This order will subject wolves, who are still struggling and recovering, to even more hatred and political pressure.”
Mexican gray wolves remain one of the most endangered mammals in North America. Reintroduced to Arizona and New Mexico in 1998 from just seven founding animals, the wild population has grown to an estimated 317 wolves but continues to face serious risks to full recovery.
“Mexican wolves came within seven captive lobos of going extinct in the mid 1900s. Their recovery to approximately 320 in the wildlands of the southwestern US and a few more in Mexico has been a remarkable achievement but is short of full recovery,” said David Parsons, former manager of the FWS Mexican wolf recovery project and a Project Coyote founding science and ethics advisory board member. “Stopping the Mexican wolf recovery effort now would most certainly put the lobos on a path to their second extinction in the wild.”
Project Coyote also pushed back on the order’s underlying premise. Federal and university data consistently show that wolf predation represents a minuscule share of livestock losses, especially when compared to weather, disease, and other causes, and ranchers already have access to financial compensation for wolf-related losses through state and federal programs. Yet the order directs agencies to make it easier to kill wolves and to weaken the evidence required to justify doing so.
“If this administration were serious about supporting ranchers, it would invest in the coexistence strategies that actually reduce conflict long-term, instead of dismantling the legal protections that are essential for protecting an endangered species,” said Fox. “Directing states to weaken their own policies and turn a blind eye to more wolf killing is a federal power grab fueled by ignorance.”
“Public lands grazing accounts for roughly 2% of total U.S. beef production. Grazing permit holders pay only about 7% of the current private grazing land lease rate, and the costs of administering the public lands grazing program vastly exceed the income received by the federal government. Given that the US exports 11-12% of US-produced beef suggests that public lands beef production is not essential to the viability of the beef production industry,” concluded Parsons.
“In contrast, wolf recovery is almost entirely dependent on public lands for success. Long-established federal law requires public lands to be allocated for co-equal multiple uses. One of those uses is wildlife conservation. Where else can we achieve wolf conservation – certainly not on private lands,” concluded Parsons.
Project Coyote is calling on the Interior Department to base any future status review of gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves strictly on the best available science, as required by law, and urging supporters to speak out on any future proposed rules that would weaken wolf protections at the state or federal level. The organization will continue working with scientists, ranchers, and community partners to advance non-lethal coexistence solutions that protect both wolves and rural livelihoods.
Project Coyote is a fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute, a 501c3 nonprofit. Project Coyote’s mission is to promote compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife—particularly North America’s wild carnivores—through education, science, advocacy, and coalition building. Led by scientists, educators, and wildlife advocates, Project Coyote works to change policies and perceptions to protect wild carnivores and foster ethical, ecologically sound stewardship.
Learn more at www.ProjectCoyote.org.
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