The bipartisan Manage Our Wolves Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) and cosponsored by U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA), on Nov. 16 received U.S. House approval in a 196-180 vote.
H.R. 6784 would remove gray wolves in the contiguous 48 states from the federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife published under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and return management of them to state control.
“If you live in Wisconsin, especially northern Wisconsin, it might be necessary for us to actually manage this population because it’s good for the environment,” said Rep. Duffy, chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance. “It’s good for the wolves. It’s good for the cattle. It’s actually really good for our deer population.”
If enacted, H.R. 6784 calls for the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to issue a rule no later than the end of fiscal year 2019 to remove the gray wolf in each of the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia from the federal endangered list “without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule,” according to the text of the bill.
“I just think this just makes common sense,” Rep. Duffy added. “Frankly, I believe that our states are far more in tuned in understanding the ecosystem of their state than bureaucrats in Washington.”
Reps. Newhouse and McMorris Rodgers agreed.
“State governments are fully qualified to responsibly manage gray wolf populations and are better able to meet the needs of local communities, ranchers, livestock, wildlife populations, and ecosystems,” Rep. Newhouse said in remarks from the House floor prior to the vote.
“I am pleased that this bipartisan legislation to return management of the gray wolf species to the states, as requested by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and as proposed by the Obama administration, has been approved by the House,” Rep. Newhouse added.
Rep. McMorris Rodgers said her constituents in Washington State know better “than someone sitting in a cubicle in Washington, D.C.,” how to best manage lands and wildlife.
“By delisting the gray wolf, we can allow people in our state and community to use science-based management practices that will benefit both our endangered and native animals while protecting farmers and ranchers,” the congresswoman said last week.
Additionally, H.R. 6784 would provide that there be no judicial review of the measure once it became law, according to the congressional record.
The bill now advances to the U.S. Senate, where Rep. Newhouse said, “I urge prompt consideration.”