New wolf census numbers from US Fish and Wildlife show another year of astonishing growth—a 20 percent increase. The population now stands at 1,229 in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. And pioneer wolves are now re-claiming their territories in Washington, Oregon, and Utah.

The Rocky Mountain wolf re-introduction program is surely one of the most encouraging success stories in the history of US conservation. The best thing we can do for wolves, it seems, it simply to leave them alone and give them room to recover–making the West a little wilder and healthier in the process.