The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Manage Our Wolves Act (H.R. 6784), a bill that would strip federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from gray wolves in the lower 48 states. The bill passed with a vote of 196-180 and had faced serious bipartisan opposition.
The following is a statement from Angel Grimes, Acting CEO of Born Free USA:
Born Free USA is alarmed by the passage of the Manage Our Wolves Act (H.R. 6784) in the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill would remove federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from gray wolves in the lower 48 states. Removing federal protections would hand species management to the states, many of which are hostile to wolves and other animals. Populations of gray wolves lost federal protections in 2011 and Idaho, Montana, and other states promptly turned to cruel “management” plans based on shooting, trapping, and poisoning.
After being pushed nearly to extinction, gray wolves have only started to recover in certain parts of their historic range thanks to the protections afforded by the ESA. While their numbers have rebounded, the species is far from fully recovered and still requires ESA protection.
Born Free USA now calls on the Senate to do what the House did not: listen to the 90 percent of Americans who support the ESA and endangered species protection and vote no on this harmful bill.