Again, the GOP proves cruelty is the point
OLIVIA ROSANE for Common Dreams
Republicans LOVE endangered species...to hunt
Overriding the opposition of more than 100 environmental
groups, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday
that would strip gray wolves in the Lower 48 states of their protections under
the Endangered Species Act.
The so-called Trust the Science Act, which was introduced
by far-right election denier Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), passed by a
narrow 209-205 margin. It would reimpose a Trump administration decision
to delist gray
wolves that was later overturned in
federal court.
"This move by extremists in Congress to push forward
an anti-wolf, anti-science bill is irresponsible and emboldens cruelty towards
gray wolves," said Endangered
Species Coalition executive director Susan Holmes.
There were once around 2 million gray wolves in North America, but they were nearly hunted to extinction with government support. After the federal government began to protect them in the 1960s, their numbers rebounded to around 6,000, but they only roam through less than 10% of their historic range in the lower 48 states.
Scientists have discovered that wolves are very
beneficial for the ecosystems they inhabit; their reintroduction into
Yellowstone National Park increased the
park's biodiversity by controlling elk and deer that had overgrazed trees,
allowing willows and aspens to thrive and attract the song birds and beavers
that depend on them.
"The inappropriately named 'Trust the Science Act' not only puts endangered gray wolves at risk for extinction, but it completely undermines the purpose of the Endangered Species Act," Raena Garcia, senior fossil fuels and lands campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said in a statement.
"The ESA is essential environmental legislation that needs to be
strengthened, not weakened. As a keystone species that plays a vital role in
preserving biodiversity, the livelihood of gray wolves can't be dictated by
industry-driven politicians."
The Endangered Species Act Coalition and Friends of the Earth Action were two of the more than 100 groups that sent a letter to representatives on Monday urging them to oppose the bill.
In the letter, they pointed out that the Trump-era ruling it is based on was overturned because of its faulty science: It based its determination for national wolves on only two populations, it did not define what it meant by a "significant" portion of the species' range, it did not consider what it means for gray wolves to have lost so much of their historic range, and it did not account for the fact that West Coast wolves and northern Rocky Mountain wolves have different ancestries.
Despite these flaws with the decision, the bill would also prohibit courts from
weighing in a second time.
"The 'Trust the Science Act' undermines the
integrity of the ESA by forcing the reinstatement of the Trump administration's
scientifically indefensible delisting rule and precluding judicial review,
undermining the rule of law that holds government officials accountable in the
courts," the conservation groups wrote.
Environmental organizations also argue that the bill
would put wolves at even greater risk from human violence. In Wyoming, where
wolves are delisted, a man recently injured a young
wolf and showed it off at a local bar before killing it. When wolves were
delisted during the Trump administration, a hunt reestablished in
Wisconsin killed off up to
a third of the state's wolves.
"The recent torture and killing of a young gray wolf
in Wyoming shows how critical the Endangered Species Act protections are for
the survival of this species core to our country's natural heritage,"
Holmes said.
The bill also comes as the Earth is losing species at
such alarming rates that scientists say humans have
likely instigated a sixth mass extinction.
"This is yet another troubling sign that our elected
leaders in the House are increasingly choosing to subvert our nation's landmark
environmental laws and ignore the biodiversity crisis that threatens wildlife
populations around the globe with extinction," Robert Dewey, vice
president of government relations for Defenders of Wildlife, said in a
statement. "Wolves play hugely important roles in maintaining healthy
ecosystems and cutting short their recovery will only harm our nation."
"The majority of Americans believe that protecting
biodiversity should be a national priority and today their voices were
stifled," Dewey continued. "We urge the Senate to take the
scientifically sound path forward and not take up this bill."
Whatever the Senate decides, it is unlikely the bill
would become law while President Joe Biden is in office. The Executive Office
of the President's Office of Budget and Management issued a
statement on Monday saying the Biden administration "strongly
opposes" the bill, arguing that its passage "would undermine
America's proud wildlife conservation traditions and the implementation of one
of our nation's bedrock environmental laws."
