Grijalva Statement on Fish and Wildlife Service’s Decision on Gray Wolves
Washington, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) announcement on gray wolves, namely their decision not to relist gray wolves in the Northern Rockies area under protections of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The agency also announced it will keep the endangered and threatened status of other gray wolf populations unchanged and will draft a new national recovery plan for the species.
“Denying ESA protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies ignores the existential threat—which the Service has acknowledged—that reckless state laws, like those in Montana and Idaho, pose to the species,” said Ranking Member Grijalva. “From allowing the killing of wolf pups to authorizing kills of more than 40% of their state’s wolf population, these state regulations have proven to be anti-science, anti-conservation, and cruel. And now they’ve gotten the rubber stamp from FWS to maintain this status quo.
“I hope something meaningful comes from the National Recovery Plan, but the Service will need to do a better job assessing the threat of politicized, harmful state regulations, the concerns of Tribes, and the state of the science than they have done with this decision.”
Additional Background
Last April, Ranking Member Grijalva, Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee Ranking Member Huffman (D-Calif.), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service urging them to thoroughly assess the threat of existing and proposed state regulations on wolf and grizzly bear populations.
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