Bill Description:
This bill would prohibit placing gray wolves in Washington, Oregon, and Utah on the list of endangered and threatened species. Management of wolf populations would be returned exclusively to the states, which would not be allowed to provide wolves with greater protections than would be afforded under the Endangered Species Act.[teaserbreak]
Background:
The federal government has tried multiple times since 2003 to lift protections for gray wolves, only to be repeatedly stymied by court rulings.
Most recently, in December of 2014, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sided with conservation groups contending the Great Lakes states’ regulatory plans don’t provide enough protection. She noted the wolves haven’t come close to repopulating their historic range, which is a criteria for recovery under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The result of this court decision was to return full endangered protections to Great Lakes wolf populations after nearly four years of state-authorized slaughter.
A few months prior, in September of 2014, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson returned Endangered Species Act protections to wolves in Wyoming. In her ruling, she agreed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that wolves there had recovered. But she said the state hadn’t provided sufficient guarantees that a minimum population would be maintained.
This bill represents the latest effort by Congress to ignore both science and the intent of the Endangered Species Act, and attempt to override the reasoned decisions of multiple judges. Such a move by Congress sets a dangerous precedent that, if successful, will surely lead to endless efforts to delist species based purely on politics. This would thoroughly undermine the integrity of the Endangered Species Act, one of our most powerful tools to ensure that the nation’s wildlife is conserved.
Please read our gray wolf page for more on this imperiled species and the ongoing battle to protect it.
Take Action:
Please contact your U.S. representatives and urge them not to support this legislation! There are more constructive ways to address concerns about growing wolf populations than by allowing states to reopen brutal hunting seasons.
Read the full text and follow its progress here.