Hunters killed 20 Yellowstone wolves that roamed out of the park.

With the support of the American public two and a half decades ago, wolves got a second chance to claim their place in the wild. In 1995 and 1996, the federal government brought wolves back to Yellowstone National Park and Idaho after 70 years of being gone. What unfolded next was a wild homecoming that changed the landscape.

The return of gray wolves to their rightful homes in Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming has brought ecological balance, thriving tourism economies, and promise of peaceful coexistence with native predators. Unfortunately, wolves' environmental and economic value is lost on many policymakers in the region who have chosen not to coexist with wolves but rather to allow people to inflict some of the worst cruelty imaginable on them.

A piece of Yellowstone falls in Montana, another in Idaho, and the rest in Wyoming. And if a wolf wanders beyond the safety of Yellowstone's reach across the park's invisible boundary, they face more threats than they could possibly know - neck snares, baits, traps, and hate.

Wyoming has been a perilous state for wolves for several years - it permits wolves to be killed by any means, at any time, without a license in all but its northwest corner. Idaho and Montana are no better - earlier this year, both states expanded their hunting seasons, increased the number of wolves that can be killed, and increased the ways wolves can be killed. Montana and Idaho's newfound commitment to slaughter their wolf populations prompted outrage from scientists, wildlife managers, and the general public. It also prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to initiate a status review to determine if they need to restore federal protections to gray wolves in the region.

We gave wolves a second chance in 1995 and 1996. With second chances so hard to come by, should we be willing to throw them away?

USFWS is accepting public comments, so please add your voice today on why an emergency relisting is warranted.

There is no sound scientific or legal argument as to why the gray wolf can’t be granted an emergency relisting and undergo a status review simultaneously. If Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wishes to end the slaughter, the Endangered Species Act gives her ample authority and discretion to stop it — cold.

That’s what she should do.