losses. The FWS attempted twice to delist wolves from federal protection and turn them over to state management, but both of those attempts were found unlawful by the federal court in Missoula, Montana. To quell the political battle between the ranchers, hunters, and conservationists, members of Congress removed Endangered Species Act protection from wolves in 2011 and gave wolf management to the states of Idaho and Montana under state wolf management plans. Since that time, the FWS has also delisted wolves from federal protection in Wyoming, and the state now has authority over wolf management there, as well. This decision is also being challenged as unlawful in court in 2013. Despite being approved by the FWS, Idaho’s proposed management plan is still shrouded in controversy. The plan calls for 10 breeding pairs in Idaho or 100 to 150 wolves. Compared with the state's other wildlife numbers (e.g. 2000-3000 mountain lions, 20,000 American black bears, 100,000 elk, and several hundred thousand mule deer), conservationists are concerned that too few wolves are protected under the plan. According to the FWS guidelines, the Idaho wolf population needs to stay above 100 individuals for the species to stay off the endangered species list and remain a viable, self-sustaining population, but much evidence shows that a much larger wolf population can survive in Idaho without having major impacts on livestock and hunting opportunities. In adjacent Washington, wolves were not reintroduced, but populations have been re-established through the natural expansion of the Idaho population. By 2008, wolves had established a permanent toehold in Washington, and have increased their number every year since. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife tracks the "minimum numbers" of wolves. This number only counts wolves in known packs that den inside the state. Lone wolves, suspected packs, and packs that range into the state but den outside it are not counted. In 2008, this "minimum number" was five; by the end of 2014, it was 68. Known wolf packs are concentrated in the northeastern corner of the state, but packs occur also in the central Cascades. In 2015, a wolf was killed on Interstate 90, about 10 mi west of the Snoqualmie Pass, proving the wolves are expanding westward. Great Smoky Mountains National Park Red wolves were once native to the Southeastern United States, but the last wolf seen in the vicinity of the park was in 1905. In 1991, two