The current wolf deregulation debate taking place in the American West is crafted through gender. Masculinity in particular becomes the voice of the historic American West. Wolf supporters, federal government agencies, environmentalists, urban easterners, and scientists act as a feminized opposition to the honorable, pragmatic cowboy steward of the Western territory. Western cowboy identity uses masculinity as a source of cultural stability. This essay tracks the spring 2007 media debate over wolf delisting, focusing on identity work being done through the news media and associated blogs to create and re-create the Western cowboy ideal, recognizing the dynamics of hegemonic masculinity as it is constructed and re-constructed through the media. Nostalgia for the Western male who can protect and manage the wild, his ranch, and his community emerges as a necessary and vital part of the dialogue. Wolf delisting becomes a repository for the enactment of the mythic American Cowboy.