Trust the Science Act passes House

The Trust the Science Act (H.R. 764), introduced by U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, passed the House of Representatives last week. The bill would see the gray wolf removed from the Endangered Species List and would also ensure the species would not be relisted through a lawsuit.

In recent years the gray wolf has bounced on and off the Endangered Species List. Each time it has been delisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a lawsuit has put the species back on the list.

“The science is clear; the gray wolf has met and exceeded recovery goals,” Congressman Tiffany said in a press release. “Today’s House passage represents an important step towards restoring local control over the skyrocketing wolf population in Wisconsin. I will continue to fight to get this legislation through the U.S. Senate to protect livestock and pets from brutal wolf attacks.”

Congressman Tiffany attended several wolf listening sessions across northern Wisconsin held by the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, Hunter Nation and others, as well as a listening session regarding the lack of deer, hunters were seeing in the Northwoods, organized by Representative Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander and Senator Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk). 

At these meetings he heard about many of the issues hunters, residents, farmers and ranchers in the state had and were still having with wolves, wolf conflicts and wolf depredations. 

According to the press release, the Trust the Science Act would require the Secretary of the Interior to reissue the 2020 Department of the Interior final rule that delisted wolves in the lower 48 states. It also ensures that re-issuance would not be subject to litigation. Tiffany said that delisting followed the best available science and called the gray wolf the “latest Endangered Species Act success story,” noting the significant population recoveries in both the Rocky Mountains and the Western Great Lakes regions. 

Twenty-four members of Congress cosponsored the Act including the entire Wisconsin Republican Congressional Delegation. Others who support the Trust the Science Act include the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, as well as Farm Bureaus from several other states, Big Game Forever, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, Hunter Nation, Safari Club International, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, New Mexico Wool Growers, the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association and others. The next step for the bill will be to be passed through the Senate. 

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].