Newhouse, Wisconsin Lawmaker Introduce Legislation Delisting Gray Wolf

4th District Congressman Dan Newhouse and Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) have introduced legislation with bipartisan support that would return management of gray wolves to state control.

Management of these gray wolves were transferred from the state to the federal level following two 2014 U.S. District Court decisions that reinstated gray wolves under the protections of the Endangered Species Act. These designations leave farmers and ranchers in those states without a legal avenue to protect their livestock from wolves.

Rep. Newhouse said  “According to the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s best available scientific evidence, the gray wolf is not endangered and no longer warrants federal endangered species’ protection,” said Congressman Newhouse. “Our bipartisan legislation would take sound science into account. It would return management of the gray wolf to the states according to the needs of the species as well as the needs of farmers and ranchers in Central Washington.”  Newhouse said the legislation comes at the request of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. He noted "this is an opportunity for the Federal government to declare victory on recovering an endangered species"

“Wisconsin deserves the opportunity to use science-based wildlife management for our own gray wolf population, because we know what’s better for our state’s ecosystem better than activist judges in Washington,” said Congressman Duffy.  “I’m proud to introduce bipartisan legislation to delist the gray wolf because Wisconsin farmers deserve to be able to protect their livestock, and they should not suffer because of the decisions made by an overreaching federal government a thousand miles away.”