Wolf packs control pack size by driving excess youngsters away at pain of death. These youngsters are the wanderers which meet up to form new packs, if territory is available. With no population control by hunting or trapping, there is an endless supply of wanderers.
BUT. It is very possible the state or feds are doing secret transplants. For example, the Michigan UP went from essentially zero wolves to a huge population wiping out the deer herd in about 25 years. The official story was that the wolves were excess youngsters from Northern Minnesota that crossed the big rivers by Duluth and wandered 400+ miles to the UP. Once here, all the excess pups quickly formed new packs.
