Many predators serve as keystone species in their environments, shaping patterns of biodiversity in the ecosystems in which they are found. At the same time, predators are the most likely trophic group to face local extirpation or extinction. Predators have faced a long and arduous road to recovery, and only in the last few decades have populations of these species begun to truly rebound. Yet the more predator populations recover, the greater the pushback to predator recovery. In this chapter, I examine the historic and contemporary law of predator management, specifically focusing on gray wolves, grizzly bears, mountain lions, and black bears. First, I discuss the potential ecological and economic benefits and costs of predator restoration. Then I contextualize trends in predator law through the framing of American predator management in three phases: eradication, conservation, and balance. Specifically, I focus on the difficult and contentious transition from federal to state management, and I explore recent trends in state management of predator populations. Knowledge of state law governing predator populations is of increasing importance to biodiversity legal scholars as recovery of these iconic species will result in a transfer of authority from the federal government back to the states.
