NRA-ILA Appeals Decision Vacating Wolf-Delisting Rule

On Monday, NRA-ILA in partnership with Safari Club International (SCI) appealed a judge’s decision vacating a federal rule that turned wolf management over to the states. This is the next step in the two-decade-long process to return wolf management to the states.

After multiple attempts to delist gray wolves from the endangered and threatened species lists were overturned by court decisions, the U.S. Department of the Interior delisted wolves throughout the lower 48 states in 2020. This decision returned the wolves’ management, including the ability to hold harvests, over to the states. This not only allowed states to better manage wolves, but every other species as well. It also benefited hunters by allowing them to play a more active role in wildlife management. 

But this decision, like all the other decisions to turn wolf management over to the states, was met with litigation. NRA-ILA and SCI successfully moved to intervene in that litigation in April 2021. But in February, a judge in the Northern District of California vacated the Department of the Interior’s rule.

NRA and SCI joined a letter to the Department of Interior encouraging it to appeal that decision in February. And on Monday, NRA-ILA, SCI, and the State of Utah appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Department of the Interior has 14 days to file its appeal.

NRA-ILA remains committed to ensuring that hunters continue to play a vital role and have a voice in the management and conservation of America’s wildlife.

The cases are captioned Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, WildEarth Guardians v. Haaland, and Natural Resources Defense Council v. U.S. Department of the Interior and they were filed in the United States District Court Northern District of California. 

Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on this and all of ILA’s efforts to defend your constitutional rights.