The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a plan to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list, a decision that has garnered widespread criticism from conservation groups.

Roland Kays, a research professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University, said the federal delisting could hinder recovery efforts in some areas within the species’ natural habitat, particularly Colorado.

Colorado plans to reintroduce gray wolves in the southern Rockies by the end of 2023. The last gray wolf native to Colorado was believed to have been killed in 1945.

“The ideal approach would be for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to end protections for established gray wolf populations out West and in the Great Lakes region, while maintaining the species’ protected status to safeguard ongoing recovery efforts in new areas,” Kays said.

Kays added that restoring gray wolves to historic habitats like Colorado provides vital ecological benefits. By keeping deer and elk populations in check, wolves prevent overpopulation, which otherwise leads to thousands of auto accidents and severe forest overgrazing.

Once gray wolves are removed from the endangered species list, landowners will have increased flexibility to eliminate predatory or aggressive wolves.

Gray wolves can be a source of financial and emotional frustration for landowners as they kill dozens, if not hundreds, of livestock animals every year.

Landowners are currently only permitted to shoot at wolves in the defense of human life or in certain circumstances when wolves are attacking livestock.

Federal officials contend that gray wolf populations are “strong and stable” enough to ensure the species’ long-term survival. Kays said he agrees with that assessment.

Gray wolves once roamed across much of North America until unregulated harvesting, trapping and poisoning rendered them nearly extinct by the mid 1900s.

As a result of federal protection, gray wolves have recovered to more than 6,000 individuals across the western Great Lakes region, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest.

Conservation groups and some scientists argue that it’s too early to delist gray wolves as populations remain absent from much of their historical range.

Under the Endangered Species Act, a species should be listed if it’s threatened or endangered in “all or a significant portion of its range.” Gray wolves currently occupy less than 20% of their historic range.

Once the delisting is finalized, it will remove federal protections for gray wolves and return management authority to state and tribal wildlife agencies.

Kays said he is confident that state and tribal wildlife agencies are capable of properly managing gray wolves and monitoring the impact of hunting and poaching.