Sen. John
Barrasso has introduced a companion bill to existing legislation in the
U.S. House of Representatives that would strip federal protection for
Wyoming’s wolves.
Assigned to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Nov. 10, S. 2281 would reissue a rule that in 2012 removed Endangered Species Act protection for wolves in Wyoming and gave management to the state. The Wyoming Republican’s legislation — like a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis in the House — would also give management of wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan back to the states, allowing hunting.
Assigned to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Nov. 10, S. 2281 would reissue a rule that in 2012 removed Endangered Species Act protection for wolves in Wyoming and gave management to the state. The Wyoming Republican’s legislation — like a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis in the House — would also give management of wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan back to the states, allowing hunting.
Barrasso
vowed persistence in using a legislative approach to get around the
Endangered Species Act protocol. Since a federal courts ruling came down
in September 2014, the act has dictated how the approximately 300
wolves in the Equality State are managed. “This
is just one of many legislative opportunities we’ll continue to pursue
until Wyoming’s wolf management plan is protected and fully
implemented,” Barrasso said in a statement. “Wyoming
has honored its commitment and put together a solid and working plan to
protect the state’s wolf population,” he said. “Even the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service agrees that wolves should be delisted in Wyoming.”
The
bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin. Lummis also
paired with a Wisconsin representative, Reid Ribble, in her February
2015 legislative effort to give Wyoming managers control once again over
the canine.
The language of the Senate and House bills are nearly identical, and both are terse.
The
bills would give Fish and Wildlife 60 days to reissue delisting rules
“without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that
applies.” They also prohibit any court from reviewing the decision.
Johnson, the Wisconsin senator, said in a statement that the bill would not modify the Endangered Species Act. “Nor
does it prevent the Fish and Wildlife Service from ever returning the
wolf to the endangered list if it determines the population is again
threatened and in need of federal protection,” he said. “I strongly
agree with Wisconsin’s farmers, ranchers, loggers and sportsmen that
future gray wolf listing decisions should come from the experts, and not
from judges.”
Last winter, Gov. Matt Mead backed using a legislative approach on the wolf issue. “Congressional
action is now the most effective means to bring gray wolf management
under state control,” Mead told The Associated Press in February.
In
2011 Congress took the unprecedented step of delisting wolves in Idaho
and Montana and portions of Utah, Washington and Oregon.
The website GovTrack.us,
however, predicts that the current legislation has just a 25 percent
chance of being passed in committee and a 5 percent chance of becoming
law.
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