In the 1930's, The gray wolf (Canis lupus) was eliminated from Yellowstone National Park. Nearly 50 years later, the gray wolf was listed as an endangered species. The Endangered Species Act purposes that there be a recovery plan for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. This recovery plan offers strategies for conserving wolves in 3 major areas of the northern Rockies which includes central Idaho, northwestern Montana, and the Yellowstone area. The plan projects that wolves would naturally re-colonize since wolves have been re-colonizing northwestern Montana over the last decade. Due to Yellowstone's geographic isolation from areas with established wolf populations, the recovery plan proposed establishing a wolf population in the Yellowstone
