For the first time since 2013, licensed wolf hunting will take place in Wyoming; the season starts this Sunday and runs through December 31st.

In March 2017, a federal appeals court upheld the USFWS’s 2012 decision to remove gray wolves in Wyoming from the endangered species list. Wolves in Wyoming were classified as “predators” and can be shot on sight within 85% of the state. Come Sunday, wolves in the northwest corner of the state can be shot as well. More here.

The decision to return wolf management to Wyoming paves the way for USFWS to issue a national wolf delisting rule — meaning all wolves in the lower 48 (except Mexican wolves and red wolves) can lose protection at a time when they have claimed less than 10% of their historic range.

Is there no safe haven for Wyoming’s wolves?