WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany’s proposal to declassify the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list cleared its first procedural hurdle on Wednesday, setting it up for a House vote.
According to a press release from Rep. Tiffany’s office, the bill known as the Pet and Livestock Protection Act seeks to restore authority to state lawmakers and state wildlife officials to control the gray wolf population as Wisconsin residents continue to deal with the negative impact of the gray wolf population growth.
In a statement, Tiffany spoke about the bill, saying, “The damage to pets, livestock, and wildlife from an unmanaged wolf population can no longer be ignored. The gray wolf has exceeded federal and state recovery goals, with over 1,000 wolves now thriving in Wisconsin. It’s time to take the next step, delist them, and let the people closest to the gray wolf manage their population levels.”
The bill was cosponsored by Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, who also released a statement on the bill’s advancement saying, “I’m very excited to see PALPA take another step towards being signed into law, which will be a huge victory for our ranchers, farmers, and landowners in Colorado and across America. The science has been very clear on this topic for years: gray wolves are fully recovered, and their comeback should be touted as a success story. Now it’s time we encourage states to set their own guidelines and allow ranchers, farmers, and landowners to protect their livelihoods. I look forward to voting for this bill on the House floor and ultimately getting it to President Trump for his signature.”
The bill passed with the support of 32 members of Congress, including the entire Wisconsin Republican Congressional Delegation and notable stakeholders that include the American Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association, and Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.
The gray wolf was delisted in the lower 48 states by the Department of the Interior and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 2020, following a process that included the most recent science and data. The gray wolf, which numbered over 6,000 at the time of delisting, is the latest Endangered Species Act success story, with strong population recoveries in the Rocky Mountains and western Great Lakes regions.
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