North Carolina’s Wildlife Resources Commission adopted a new resolution on December 5, 2024, requiring staff to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to collaboratively manage canids on the Albemarle Peninsula (AP) in eastern North Carolina. The AP is home to the world’s only wild population of Red Wolves; just 16 are known to remain.

The adopted resolution overturns two regulations that were introduced in 2015 and 1) asked USFWS to declare Red Wolves extinct in the wild and terminate the recovery program, and 2) asked USFWS to remove any Red Wolves that were living on private lands in the five county area of Hyde, Beaufort, Tyrrell, Dare, and Washington counties. At the time, approximately 100 Red Wolves lived in the wild in North Carolina; if USFWS had terminated the program, the entire wild population would have gone extinct.

There is a perceived notion that Red Wolves are a local or regional issue.  Endangered species recovery, however, is a matter of pride and concern for all U.S. citizens. Wildlife and other natural resources are a public trust. The public trust is a legal concept that implies that we all share equal, undivided interests in America’s wildlife. Thus, decision-making and resulting wildlife policy should be developed based on sound science and carried out in a democratic manner responsive to the voice of ALL people.

Continued support of the Recovery Program in eastern North Carolina is vital to the long-term prospects of the species.