Summary: President Donald Trump signed the Supporting America’s Ranchers Executive Order to direct federal agencies toward gray wolf delisting and address decades of legal battles under the Endangered Species Act.
On Friday, September 4, 2026, President Donald Trump signed the Supporting America’s Ranchers Executive Order. The order addresses a number of issues facing ranchers, including gray wolf management.
Two Decades of Legal Limbo Under the ESA
For the last 20 years, wolves have been in legal limbo under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has attempted to delist them several times, and courts have reversed those decisions every step of the way. The gray wolf has proven that the ESA is broken, and American hunters and ranchers are paying the price through lost game animals, hunting dogs, and livestock.
This executive order is the administration’s response. It does two primary things regarding wolves.
Evaluating Recovery Criteria and Court Appeals
First, it directs the Secretary of Interior to determine if wolves “have met the recovery criteria for delisting or downlisting under the Endangered Species Act” within 90 days, and to begin the process of delisting or downlisting if they have. The first Trump Administration made that determination in 2020. That delisting was set aside by a federal court in California in 2022. The appeal has been delayed for the last four years, and the Ninth Circuit will finally hear the oral argument on October 13. The outcome of that case will directly impact any future administrative action on wolves.
The Race to Pass Delisting Legislation
Second, it asks the Secretary to draft legislation to delist or downlist wolves. The House of Representatives in the current Congress, has already passed, H.R. 845, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, to delist the gray wolf. There is a companion bill, S.1306, in the Senate. In August, Senator Ron Johnson attempted to fast-track the bill. That required unanimous consent, and Senator Cory Booker objected. But the Senate has not taken any additional action on this legislation, and time is running out.
The bill must pass the Senate and be presented to the President for his signature before a new Congress is elected and sworn in on January 3. The Senate will be out of session for all of October and several weeks for holidays in November and December. If the current Senate fails to pass the bill in time, the process will begin anew in the next Congress, which, depending on the outcome of the November election, may not be as supportive of delisting wolves.
This is where you can help! Use the Take Action button to email and call your U.S. Senator and urge them to pass S. 1306, so we can move past decades of legal limbo on the issues of wolves.
Sportsmen’s Alliance Vows to Protect Hunting Heritage
“We are glad to see the Administration taking up this issue that has impacted sportsmen for so long,” said Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel at Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “We look forward to participating in the administrative rulemaking process and helping our members who have lost too many dogs to wolves.”
Issues like these are at the heart of the Sportsmen’s Alliance mission, and we will continue to monitor this important matter. Don’t stand on the sidelines, join us as a member or a donor of the Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund in protecting tomorrow’s hunting, fishing, and trapping heritage today.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance guarantees hunting, fishing, and trapping for the American sportsman now and forever. We’re there when sportsmen need us most. We are the only organization specifically created to protect the individual hunter, angler, and trapper – no matter the threat. We will never compromise when it comes to defending our way of life in the courts, in the legislatures, in the public square, and at the ballot box. We make this promise to the American sportsman: we will never give up and never give in while proudly securing our future against those seeking to destroy our values, beliefs, and traditions. Stay connected to the Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
