Newhouse To Introduce Bill To Loosen Gray Wolf Protections

Fourth District Congressman Dan Newhouse wants to make changes to the Endangered Species Act. 

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The state Fish and Wildlife Commission recently decided to leave the Gray Wolf on the state's version of the Act. 

Newhouse thinks that decision is a reflection on the failure of the Endangered Species Act overall. 

"We have a species that has truly recovered in the Gray Wolf," said Newhouse. "All the population numbers tell us that they are thriving. They are doing very well. And yet, they remain, at least in part of the state, protected under the ESA." 

States that have their own Endangered Species ACTs have wiggle room under the federal act. 

Newhouse has been critical of a decision on the federal level to keep listing the Gray Wolf as endangered. 

"I think that's an example of the total failure of the Endangered Species Act," Newhouse said.  

He points out that 1,700 species and plants have been listed as endangered under the act over the last 50 years, while only three species have been removed from the list. 

In February, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced no changes to the listing status of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act.  

Last Friday, the state Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 5-4 to keep gray wolves listed as endangered in Washington. 

The Fish and Wildlife Department had previously recommended lowering wolves’ status from endangered to sensitive. 

Newhouse plans to introduce a bill in Congress after the August recess, sometime in September, to loosen the Endangered Species Act. The move will be in conjunction with House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman, who is a fellow Republican of Newhouse. 

Last year, Westerman and Newhouse created a bipartisan Endangered Species Act working group to examine how the act is being implemented by federal agencies. 

Ranchers in Washington have complained that they've lost livestock to predatory gray wolves. Newhouse thinks those ranchers should be allowed to hunt down wolves that present an economic threat to their businesses.