Wyoming Lummis Offers Wolf Clause

By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

July 7, 2011

Language proposed in an appropriations bill would turn Wyoming wolves over to state control and prevent lawsuits in the event of a deal removing the predator from Endangered Species Act protection.

U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., this week included the language in the 2012 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill along with provisions that, among other things, limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate coal industry pollutants, direct the U.S. Forest Service to place a greater emphasis on logging beetle-infested forests, limit funding for endangered species and critical habitat and protect grazing rights.

“The best way to ensure the success of any negotiation is to back it up with the force of law,” Lummis said in a statement. “This language does exactly that. This provision is a crucial puzzle piece to the long-awaited conclusion of the delisting of the fully-recovered gray wolf.”

She continued: “For more than eight years, wolves in Wyoming have met or exceeded the federal government’s recovery goals, and without proper management, have thrived at the expense of Wyoming’s ranchers, farmers and big game herds.”

The announcement from Lummis comes before a news conference with Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Dan Ashe scheduled for today. The conference is expected to involve delisting wolves in Wyoming.

Gov. Mead has previously said he will accept nothing less than predator status for much of the state.

As predators, wolves could be killed by any means, any time, without a license.

If Lummis’ language inserted in the appropriations bill becomes law, it would be a step toward circumventing the Endangered Species Act for wolf management in the state, said Greater Yellowstone Coalition Wyoming wildlife advocate Chris Colligan.

“We hope that Wyoming can come up with a biologically sufficient plan that meets the standards of the Endangered Species Act so this would be unnecessary,” he said.

Lummis’ language in the appropriations bill also would clarify appropriate winter uses in Wilderness Study Areas in Wyoming, push Environmental Protection Agency and Fish and Wildlife Service funding below fiscal year 2006 levels and prohibit the EPA from expanding its authority to regulate waters of the United States under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

In addition, the language would prohibit the EPA from requiring some permits for agriculture pesticides and freeze forest service actions that protect bighorn sheep at the expense of the state’s domestic sheep industry. 

The new legislation also includes an Equal Access to Justice Act tracking and reporting requirement.

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