Defenders of Wildlife is sounding the alarm over the latest congressional attack on gray wolves following the introduction of the Pacific Northwest Gray Wolves Relief Act. Introduced by Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR), H.R. 5171 seeks to delist gray wolves in currently protected areas of Oregon and Washington from the Endangered Species Act.
“This bill is the latest in a series of attacks on gray wolves that are senselessly attempting to strip protections away while the species continues to recover,” said Colin Reynolds, senior advisor to the Northwest program at Defenders of Wildlife. “As has been reported in both Oregon and Washington’s most recent annual wolf reports, wolves have not yet reached a sustainable population threshold, making this bill nonsensical and a direct affront to science and continued recovery efforts.”
Under the ESA, the gray wolf is listed as endangered in most of the Lower 48, threatened in Minnesota, and is not listed in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming and portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah.
For a complete history of gray wolf protections in the Lower 48, visit Defenders’ timeline here.
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