The return of the gray wolf is one of America’s most remarkable wildlife recovery stories. Once nearly eliminated from Wisconsin, wolves have rebounded dramatically — a conservation achievement worth celebrating.

But recovery was never meant to be the end of the story.

The Endangered Species Act was created with a worthy goal: prevent species from disappearing and help them recover. More than 50 years later, however, the way the law is implemented too often fails to complete that mission. A system designed to recover species must also provide a clear and workable path for recognizing success, removing recovered populations from federal protection, and returning management to the states.

Wisconsin’s wolves demonstrate why reform is needed. A recovered species should be a conservation victory — not a permanent regulatory designation.

Today, Wisconsin supports a thriving wolf population, while farmers, ranchers, hunters, pet owners, and rural communities are increasingly confronting the consequences of living alongside a large predator without the full range of management tools traditionally used for healthy wildlife populations.

We don’t have to choose between wolves and people.

We can celebrate the comeback and manage the future — protecting healthy wolf populations while giving states and local communities the flexibility to manage them responsibly and protect livestock, pets, livelihoods, and public confidence in conservation.

The spirit behind the Endangered Species Act was well intentioned. Its implementation needs reform. Conservation policy should measure success not by how long a species remains listed, but by whether it has recovered enough that extraordinary federal protection is no longer necessary.