Bill Description:
This bill seeks to ensure the Mexican gray wolf receives no protections under the Endangered Species Act. The bill does this by declaring that two rules published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on January 16, 2016 will have “no force or effect”. One such rule protects the Mexican gray wolf as “nonessential experimental population” (80 Fed. Reg. 2512), the other determination classifies the Mexican gray wolf as an endangered species (80 Fed. Reg. 2488).[teaserbreak]
Background:
The Mexican gray wolf, with a population consisting of just over 100 animals, is one of the most endangered mammals in North America. The species currently resides in New Mexico and Arizona, where 69% and 72% of voters support its recovery, respectively. Mexican gray wolves are just beginning to show signs of recovering, and as such are still in need of federal protections.
Generally, the federal government has tried multiple times since over the last decade to lift protections for gray wolves, only to be repeatedly stymied by court rulings and sound, peer-reviewed science.
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 as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 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 Mexican gray wolf page for more on this imperiled subspecies and the ongoing battle to protect it.
Take Action:
Please contact your U.S. representative and urge him or her not to support this legislation! The Mexican gray wolf is too few in number to lose all federal protections under the ESA! There are more constructive and effective ways of addressing wolf-human conflict than to wipe out an entire native predator species.
Read the full text and follow its progress here.