Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced no changes to the listing status of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in response:

"Today's announcement fails to alleviate the concerns of the millions of Americans impacted by an unchecked gray wolf population. The fact that Americans have to worry about ESA rulings impacting their lives and livelihoods time and time again is illustrative of a broken system that allows bureaucrats to make decisions without local community input. We know the Endangered Species Act is in desperate need of scientific reform, and congressional Republicans have been working to make these changes a reality. Despite today's announcement, it remains clear that the gray wolf is a recovered species, and its management should be transferred over to the states. It's time for the federal government to get out of the way and let states and local communities manage the habitats and wildlife they know best." 

Background

Today, the USFWS announced no change to the current legal status of gray wolves in the United States, retaining wolf populations under state management in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and portions of Eastern Oregon and Washington, and maintaining the species’ ESA listing as endangered in 44 states and as threatened in Minnesota. The USFWS announced they will also take steps to develop a National Recovery Plan under the ESA for gray wolves in the lower 48 states. 

Just yesterday, Chairman Westerman and members of the House Committee on Natural Resources sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams regarding the agency's unscientific approach to gray wolf listing under the ESA and the significant impacts an endangered listing would have on western communities.

In July 2023, Chairman Westerman and House Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) created a bipartisan ESA working group to examine how the ESA is being implemented by federal agencies, the practical impacts on the American people, how litigation is driving ESA decision making and how success is defined under the ESA.  In September 2023, the House Committee on Natural Resources favorably reported H.R. 764, the “Trust the Science Act” introduced by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), which would reinstate the USFWS’ 2020 rule delisting the gray wolf in the lower 48 states.