Endangered Species Act protections for wolverines likely imminent

An analysis of wolverines in Wyoming and the rest of their Lower 48 range paints a grim picture of a low-density species that’s losing its habitat and facing an uncertain future.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a 100-page “species status assessment” for North American wolverines in late September. That document presages a final determination that federal wildlife managers must make by late November to satisfy a May 2022 federal court order.

The assessment’s closing paragraph hints at what’s likely to happen: wolverines will no longer be a state-managed species, and instead will be...