A GRAY WOLF in Marquette County. (Michigan Department of Natural Resources photo)

LANSING — The Michigan House has adopted a resolution urging Congress to enact legislation reinstating the U.S. Department of Interior’s prior removal of gray wolves from the endangered species list — a step towards reinstituting wolf hunts in Michigan.

“By continuing to benefit from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits the killing of these predators unless they pose a direct and immediate threat, the gray wolf population may continue to swell and consequently wreak havoc on an already severely declining white-tailed deer population in Michigan,” the resolution read in part.

Gray wolves have been protected by federal laws since 1967, including the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 2020, under the first Trump administration, gray wolves were delisted as an endangered species. That decision was reversed by a federal court in 2022 and the wolves were reclassified as endangered most U.S. states.

The resolution approved April 23 argues that the population has rebounded sufficiently to have the gray wolf population managed by states. The resolution will be sent to the president, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and members of the Michigan Congressional Delegation.

The resolution is universally sponsored by the Upper Peninsula members of the Michigan House of Representatives, but was introduced by state Rep. Parker Fairbairn of the 107th District, which includes parts of Chippewa and Mackinac counties in the U.P. and Cheboygan County in the Lower Peninsula, as well as all of Charlevoix and Emmet counties. Joining him were state Rep. David Prestin of the 106th, Rep. Karl Bohnak of the 109th, Rep. Gregory Markkanen of the 110th and 20 representatives from the Lower Peninsula.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources 2024 winter wolf survey estimated the Upper Peninsula had a minimum of 762 wolves. Reports of wolves in the Lower Peninsula are rare; the DNR asked for the public’s help earlier this year for signs wolves had expanded into northern Lower Michigan.

Delisting gray wolves has some support in Washington. Colorado Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert introduced the “Pet and Livestock Protection Act of 2025” and the “Trust the Science Act” earlier this year, both of which would remove gray wolves from the list of endangered species. Neither bill takes any other actions beyond the removal of gray wolves from the list, nor has either bill been passed in the U.S. House.