How does power flow through our federal system of government?
You might not expect the gray wolf to be involved in a power struggle between the national government and state wildlife agencies. Under our federal system of government, states traditionally exercised control over wildlife within their borders. Wolves were universally viewed as threats to people and livestock. In fact, many states paid residents a bounty, or reward, for every wolf they killed. As a result, by the mid-1900s, wolves had all but disappeared from every state except Alaska.
Concern over the dwindling population of once common animals such as the gray wolf led Congress to pass the Endangered Species Act in 1973. This law gave control of endangered animals to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Once the gray wolf came under federal protection, state bounties were banned and the hunting of wolves was outlawed in most areas. A person found guilty of killing a wolf could be punished with a fine of $100,000 and a year in jail.
The Fish and Wildlife Service also worked to restore endangered species to habitats where they had once flourished. As part of this effort, federal officials reintroduced gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. No wolves had been seen in the park, which includes parts of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, since 1939.
The return of wolves to Yellowstone Park triggered a storm of protest from nearby sheep and cattle ranchers. Fearing wolf raids on their livestock, they urged state officials to wrest control of the growing wolf population away from the federal government. Fish and Wildlife Service officials resisted these efforts, fearing that handing over wolf management to the states could lead to overhunting and even extinction.
By 2007, Idaho and Montana's wolf population had grown to the point at which the Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to return management of wolves to state agencies. However, environmentalists contested this decision. After much debate, Idaho and Montana regained management of wolves in 2011. In 2012, Wyoming also regained this authority.
This long and often heated debate over who should manage the gray wolf is an example of the kinds of conflicts that can arise in a federal system of government. This chapter will trace the evolution of federalism in the United States over the past two centuries, including the important role of state and local governments within our federal system of government.