DeFazio, 74 other House members ask administration to scrap wolf de-listing proposal

Statesman Journal
By Raju Chebium
March 19, 2014

WASHINGTON – Oregon Rep. Pete DeFazio and 74 other House lawmakers wrote to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Wednesday asking her to scrap a proposal to remove the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list.

A letter written by DeFazio and signed by 72 other House Democrats and two Republicans referred to last month’s independent review requested by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. That study, done by researchers at the University of California-Santa Barbara, said flawed science was used in developing the plan to de-list the wolf throughout the continental U.S.

The Obama administration “should rescind the proposed rule immediately,” the lawmakers wrote.

“The findings … validate concerns raised by Congress and the scientific community over the (Fish & Wildlife) Service’s failure to use the best available science,” according to the letter. “The proposed rule undermines decades of conservation work done to protect the gray wolf, and sets a bad precedent for future ESA de-listings.”

The Fish & Wildlife Service – which is overseen by the Interior Department –backed away from the de-listing plan after last month’s review and said it will seek additional public input before issuing a final rule.

DeFazio, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and his allies want Jewell to go further – they want her to end the de-listing effort, period.

The only other Oregonian who signed the letter was Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland. Many Democrats from California, Colorado and Washington state are also among the signatories. The two Republicans signing the letter were New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith and Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick.

Gray wolves have been under federal protection in the lower 48 states since 1967.

Wolf populations in the Northern Rocky Mountains and the western Great Lakes region were de-listed in recent years after the government said those populations are rebounding.

The Fish & Wildlife Service wanted to de-list the gray wolf in the rest of the continental U.S. while continuing to give the Mexican gray wolf, found only in the Southwest, full protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Farmers, ranchers and hunters pushed for the gray wolf de-listing, which was also backed by a number of congressional Republicans.