A judge misapplied the Endangered Species Act when he restored federal protection to wolves in Western Oregon, Western Washington and California, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service argued in a court brief Sept. 13.

Gray wolves are an ESA success story, even if they haven’t recolonized the West Coast, according to USFSW.

“The ESA is clear: Its goal is to prevent extinction, not to restore species to their pre-western settlement numbers and range,” the brief reads.

The 13,700-word brief opened USFWS’ appeal to the 9th Circuit Court. At stake is whether states or USFWS will manage gray wolves throughout the Lower 48.

States should lead because gray wolves are no longer endangered or threatened, according to USFWS. States can cull wolf packs to protect livestock, while federally protected wolves have immunity.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland disagreed with USFWS, ruling in 2022 taking ESA protection away from wolves outside the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes was premature.

USFWS failed to consider how delisting would affect lone wolves traveling outside the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes, according to White.

The judge also said the agency failed to make the case that West Coast wolves are genetically the same as Rocky Mountain wolves.

USFWS argues it “makes no sense” to analyze the threat humans pose to wolves where wolves do not exist and that White erred by rejecting the agency’s scientific judgment and inserting his own on genetics.

Rocky Mountain wolves are abundant and connected to a large number of Canadian wolves, but are unlikely to recolonize some places, such as regions with few forests but lots of livestock, according to USFWS.

“The practical consequences of the district’s holding is that the gray wolf can never be delisted,” the brief reads.

Wolf advocates argue turning over wolf management to states will mean more dead wolves before wolves have returned to vast sections of their historic range.

“I’m confident the district court’s reasoned decision that reinstated wolf protections will be upheld,” Center for Biological Diversity carnivore conservation director Collette Adkins said in a statement.

The circuit court has allowed the American Farm Bureau, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Public Lands Council and American Sheep Industry Association to represent the interest of farmers and ranchers. Judge White denied intervention by farm groups.

Another lawsuit, filed by wolf advocates and pending in the U.S. District Court for Montana, seeks ESA protection for wolves in Idaho and the other Rocky Mountain states.