Republicans Urge Overhaul of Endangered Species Act

A court ruling that blocked grizzly bear hunts in the Northern Rockies is galvanizing Republicans eager to overhaul the Endangered Species Act. But Congress is poised first to deal with a separate animal – gray wolves.
Lawmakers in Congress have advanced a proposal to strip protections from gray wolves across the contiguous U.S. amid a push by Republicans for broad changes to the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee approved the measure from Wisconsin Republican Rep. Sean Duffy on Wednesday, sending it to the full House.
It’s a signal of growing frustration among Republicans over court actions restoring protections for species that government scientists declared to be recovered. The latest case is a ruling this week restoring protections for grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park, blocking public hunts of the bears in Wyoming and Idaho. U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney is proposing to once again remove protections for grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies.
Federal officials removed protections for wolves in the Great Lakes region in 2011, before a court restored protections in 2014. Wolves are not federally protected in the Northern Rockies.