U.S. House votes to delist gray wolves: Bentz in support, Bynum, fellow Oregon Democrats opposed
WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- The U.S. House voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve a bill that would remove Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf, a goal of Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., who has called the animals "killing machines" that threaten rural ranchers' livelihoods.
Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Ore., along with four fellow Oregon Democrats voted no as the House approved the Pet and Livestock Protection Act on a 211-204 vote. Five House Democrats voted for the bill, while four Republicans were opposed. It now goes to the Senate.
The bill directs the Interior secretary to reinstate a 2020 delisting rule and would return wolf management to the states, while also blocking future court challenges.
In his recent Problem Solvers report , Harley Coldiron spoke with Bentz and a Southern Oregon rancher as he looked into the nationwide debate. He noted that the Trump administration move to delist the wolf has brought praise from ranchers and Republicans, while sparking outrage from conservation groups.
Here's Bentz's full news release Thursday explaining his vote, with supportive comments from others, and a statement from the Western Environmental Law Center critical of the bill and urging the Senate to reject it.
Congressman Bentz Applauds the Advancement to Delist the Gray Wolf
WASHINGTON, D.C.– Following Congressman Bentz (R-OR) House floor speech last week outlining the dangers posed by the unchecked growth of gray wolf populations, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of delisting the gray wolf. The passage of H.R. 845, The Pet and Livestock Protection Act is an important step toward restoring common sense wildlife management and returning authority to state agencies.
“Today’s vote is a long-overdue acknowledgment that the federal government’s approach to gray wolf management has failed,” said Congressman Bentz. “From my first days in Congress, I have pushed to delist the gray wolf because the consequences of inaction are being felt every day in Oregon’s Second Congressional District. Ranching families are paying the price for policies made in Washington that ignore conditions on the ground. Delisting the gray wolf is a necessary first step toward restoring balance, protecting livestock, driving down the cost of beef prices, and returning wildlife management to the state agencies best equipped to do the job. I strongly urge the Senators of Oregon and the rest of their chamber to pass this legislation.”
Tammy Dennee of the Oregon Cattleman's Association: “Oregon’s livestock producers have been hard hit economically due to predator activity. It is for this reason, the Oregon Cattleman’s Association supports the passage of HR845, The Pet and Livestock Protection Act, by the house of representatives which is the first step toward the delisting of the wolf. In Oregon, delisting will be a welcome relief to producers in ¾ of the state allowing for long overdue management options under the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan. The assurances this bill offers will allow for quality wolf management and protection of private property.”
Dr. Elise Flynn, Valley Falls, OR: “Our most basic human and American rights are denied when we can’t legally take action to protect our own livestock from being harassed and killed right in front of our eyes. The current law is a form of entrapment that turns law abiding citizens into felons just for following their innate instinct to protect their home, family and livelihood. Humans and wolves are both apex predators, so protection laws must go both ways to maintain balance."
The House action follows Bentz’s recent floor remarks, where he highlighted the devastating impacts wolf depredation has had on livestock producers and rural economies, as well as the inability of states to effectively manage wolf populations under rigid federal control.
Listen to my remarks, here.
Western Environmental Law Center
House passes, Senate must reject bill to remove endangered species protections for wolves in Lower 48
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 845, a bill that disregards science and removes Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48. Wolves remain far from being recovered and are depleted in or absent entirely from the vast majority of their historic range. The bill would restore a 2020 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisting rule rejected by the courts due to scientific evidence showing wolves are not yet recovered under the ESA. H.R. 845 would also prohibit any legal challenge to its removal of wolf protections.
If passed by the Senate, this bill would congressionally delist all gray wolves in the lower 48 the same way wolves in the Northern Rockies were congressionally delisted in 2011, handing management authority over to states. The 2011 delisting marked the first ever delisting of a species from the Endangered Species Act by Congress—a decision that is otherwise authorized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through a multi-step process that involves scientific review and public participation. Regulations in Montana, for example, allow hunters and trappers to kill several hundred wolves per year—a 452-wolf quota was approved this year—with bait, traps, snares, night hunting, infrared and thermal imagery scopes, and artificial light.
The most recent data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its state partners show an estimated 4,900 wolves inhabit the western Great Lakes states, but only 230 wolves are in Washington state, 204 in Oregon, 50 in California and a scant 20 in Colorado early on in its reintroduction. Nevada, and Utah have had a few wolf sightings over the past three years, but wolves remain functionally absent from their historical habitat in these states. There are only 2,700 wolves in the entire western United States.
“Wolves are a keystone species whose presence on landscapes regulates animal populations and improves ecosystem health – something the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has acknowledged for at least 44 years,” said Kelly Nokes, Western Environmental Law Center attorney. “Allowing people to kill wolves in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana has already stunted recovery in those states. Applying this same death sentence to wolves throughout the contiguous U.S. would nationalize these negative effects, with potentially catastrophic ripple effects on ecosystems where wolves have yet to fully recover. The Senate must reject legislative wolf delisting as anti-science and purely political.”
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