Despite being politicized in its early stages, the Red Wolf (Canis rufus) Recovery Program (RWRP) existed for 30 years in eastern North Carolina with little attention paid to finding common ground between policy contestants. We situated our data from 62 key informant interviews within Stone's (2002) policy goals framework to evaluate red wolf recovery in eastern North Carolina, United States. Four goals underpin U.S. political culture and offer common ground with which to begin negotiation among policy contestants. Our results highlight challenges to achieving one definition prescribing how to treat each policy goal. The future of recovery within the red wolf's historic range could hinge on decision-makers' willingness to prioritize policy design over policy tool evaluation, developing a process by which to achieve an agreed-upon set of values underscoring red wolf recovery. This process must reconcile disagreements about what is fair or equitable treatment of landowners and include local-level experiences.