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Tiffany Introduces Bill to Restore Gray Wolf Authority to States

January 13, 2021

‘Managing Predators Act’ would put local communities “back in the driver’s seat”

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Reps. Tom Tiffany (WI-07), Pete Stauber (MN-08), Liz Cheney (WY-AL), Paul Gosar (AZ-04), Glenn Grothman (WI-06) and Mike Gallagher (WI-08) introduced legislation today to permanently remove the gray wolf from the list of federal endangered species and restore management authority to state lawmakers and state wildlife officials.

"It's time to end the era of urban judges and paper-pushers a thousand miles away in Washington, DC micromanaging Wisconsin wildlife policies," said Tiffany. "Wolf attacks on pets and livestock have become commonplace and harmed the hunting industry in recent years – enough is enough."

The wolf was administratively de-listed by the Interior Department in late 2020, but there is growing concern that lawsuits filed by progressive pressure groups and the incoming Biden administration will result in a "re-listing" of the predator, despite its recovery in the Great Lakes region. Tiffany's bill would ensure this does not happen by codifying the de-listing in federal law.

"For too long, the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been converted by the radical environmental lawsuit industry into a statutory ‘Hotel California,' one where unelected federal bureaucrats and well-funded lobbyists see to it that animals ‘check-in' to the threatened and endangered list – but never leave," added Tiffany. "Meanwhile, rural communities with no say in the process are stuck with the consequences as a revolving door of de-listing and re-listing continues to spin."

"Wisconsin farmers and sportsmen have seen enough real-world evidence to know that it is their livelihood and future that's endangered, not the gray wolf," Tiffany said. "It's time to make sure that Wisconsinites are permanently in the driver's seat."

The push to de-list the wolf last year enjoyed broad, bi-partisan support among Wisconsin's congressional delegation.

Tiffany also voiced support for management efforts to commence at the state level, expressing strong support for the immediate authorization of a wolf hunting season in testimony before the legislature's Joint Committee on Sporting Heritage on Wednesday.

"Our state needs it, our sportsmen want it, and they are all counting on their representatives and wildlife managers to deliver," Tiffany concluded.

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