Peterson's bill would override that ruling, requiring the interior secretary to re-issue the rule allowing states to manage their wolf populations. "It's ridiculous that a single judge sitting a thousand miles away from the nearest gray wolf can undermine an entire federal agency and science-driven population surveys," he argues.

In 1974, one year after the Endangered Species Act was signed into law by President Nixon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service classified gray wolves as an endangered species throughout the country except in Minnesota, where populations were more stable and wolves were classified as threatened.

The intricacies of these designations, as they relate to different states, have been litigated for the last two decades. But the recent fight over gray wolves' status began in 2011, when Fish and Wildlife delisted gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes from the Endangered Species Act.

"Gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes are recovered and no longer warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act," acting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Rowan Gould said in a statement at the time.

From 2011 to 2014, the population was managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. During that time, Minnesota held three recreational hunts.