Grey Wolves Removed from Endangered Species List Again?

New Appropriations Bill Puts Grey Wolf Conservation at Risk

Gary Kramer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The FY25 Interior Appropriations Act includes a controversial provision that removes grey wolves from the Endangered Species Act.

The Fiscal Year 2025 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act was just passed by the House of Representatives.

It contains a lot of concerning news for environmental advocates, such as a decrease in the overall budget, cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), limitations to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and defunding of several other environmental health programs.

It also allows for oil and gas leases in areas that were previously protected.

What does it mean for wolves specifically?

Hidden in the bill is yet another rider that was snuck in that removes grey wolves from the Endangered Species List.

User:Mas3cf, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Section 130 of this bill removes federal protection and allows wolf management to go back to the state level.

The bill was proposed by GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, who defends it by claiming that it trusts bipartisan science.

It has received some strong opposition.

The White House has come out against Boebert’s bill stating, “the transparent and science-based process prescribed by the ESA, with public input, is the best path for adding or removing species” and that it would “undermine America’s proud wildlife conservation traditions and the implementation of one of our nation’s bedrock environmental laws.”

Addie Haughey joins in saying, “This bill is nothing more than a wishlist of hyperpartisan policy priorities that undermine the work of federal agencies and implement an extreme anti-environment and culture war agenda.”

If the bill passes through the Senate, it would surely be a setback for the environmental advocate world, especially for wolf supporters.

References

https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/committee-approves-fy25-interior-environment-and-related-agencies

https://www.cpr.org/2024/04/30/boebert-bill-to-remove-grey-wolf-from-endangered-species-list-passes-house

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