Washington, D.C. —Today, the Republican-led House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries will consider legislation that would dramatically weaken the widely popular Endangered Species Act (ESA) and strip protections for gray wolves in 48 states.

The first bill — the “ESA Amendments Act of 2025” — would gut the critical protections that the ESA provides for thousands of imperiled species, upend the scientific consultation process (which has been the cornerstone of American species protection for 50 years), slow listings to a crawl while fast-tracking delistings, and allow much more exploitation of threatened species and shift their management out of federal hands to the states, even while they are still nationally listed. 

The second bill — the so-called “Pet and Livestock Protection Act of 2025″ — would reissue the first Trump administration’s delisting of the gray wolf across most of the U.S. and bar judicial review of that action. In 2022, a federal court reversed this delisting, after conservation groups challenged it.

In addition to the Republican-led Congressional attacks on the ESA and gray wolves, the Trump administration recently terminated hundreds of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees — nearly 5 percent of the agency’s workforce — which is already critically understaffed. Without those employees, it will be even harder for disappearing vulnerable species to receive crucial protections, and for vitally important ecosystems across the U.S. to remain intact.  

In response to attempts to undermine the ESA and delist gray wolves, organizations from across the country sent a letter to HNR leadership outlining opposition to the bills. Additionally, groups from the Endangered Species Coalition issued the following statements:

“These attempts to weaken the Endangered Species Act, or to go around it by picking off species like the gray wolf, represent a fundamental disconnect between a small number of legislators and millions of Americans,” said Earthjustice legislative director for lands, wildlife, and oceans Addie Haughey. “The ESA — and the iconic species it protects — enjoys immense support across the political spectrum. If these bills move forward, Congress will be acting against popular will and ignoring science to sacrifice the wildlife we love and the ecosystems we rely on.”

“Congressman Westerman’s bill would eviscerate the Endangered Species Act and push imperiled species to extinction,” said Ellen Richmond, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. “The Endangered Species Act is the backstop for our nation’s wildlife already at the brink of extinction and this bill would sanction their swift descent into nothingness. We urge our representatives in Congress to listen to the American public’s overwhelming support for the Endangered Species Act and reject this disastrous bill which does nothing to strengthen wildlife protections and instead reverses decades of conservation success.”

“We are in a biodiversity crisis, and Congress is playing with fire. These bills would accelerate extinction at a time when we can least afford it,” said Josh Osher, public policy director for Western Watersheds Project. “The Endangered Species Act isn’t just about saving wolves, grizzlies, or sea turtles—it’s about protecting the ecosystems that sustain us all. Weakening these protections pushes our planet further into collapse. Congress must open its eyes and reject these reckless attacks before it’s too late.”

“These extreme bills would gut protections for wildlife under the Endangered Species Act. They are being introduced against a backdrop of sudden and indiscriminate firings across the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, robbing these agencies of the experts who implement these crucial protections based on the best available science,” said Susan Millward, executive director and chief executive officer for the Animal Welfare Institute. “These assaults on wildlife protections come at a time of staggering biodiversity loss, and imperiled species don’t have the luxury of waiting out these political games.”

“Extinction is forever,” says Katherine Miller, Country Director for FOUR PAWS USA. ” If we allow the protections afforded by the ESA to be weakened and undermined by legislation like this, the consequences of these decisions will reverberate for generations. The ESA protects both iconic native species like Bald eagles and non-native species like Bengal tigers. It has also protected millions of acres of habitat, ensuring a livable planet for all of us.”

“The ESA Amendments Act of 2025, introduced by Representative Westerman, is severely out of step with how most Americans view and support wildlife protection. It prioritizes big industry and special interests ahead of decades-long, science-based protections that work,” said Chris Allieri, executive director and founder, NYC Plover Project. “Radicals in Congress are fast-tracking extinction and looking to severely weaken, if not entirely remove, bedrock environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.” 

“The Endangered Species Act is one of the country’s most popular and successful conservation laws, and Donald Trump wants to throw it in the garbage to pad the bottom lines of his corporate supporters,” said Bradley Williams, Sierra Club’s Deputy Legislative Director for Wildlife and Lands Protection. “Since Day One of his administration, Trump has shown again and again that he wants to hand over control of our public lands and waters to billionaires and corporations. Imperiled wildlife will suffer the consequences. For more than 50 years, the United States has made amazing progress bringing species back from the brink of extinction. It’s because of the ESA that species like the grizzly bear and bald eagle are living symbols of America and not just photos in a history book. If Trump and his allies in Congress get their way, that progress won’t just come to a screeching halt – it could be completely reversed.”

“For decades, the Endangered Species Act has been a critical lifeline in preventing the irreversible loss of our nation’s wildlife. Legislation like H.R. 845 and H.R. 1897 would undermine this powerful tool against extinction and jeopardize ongoing recovery efforts of our iconic native species, like the gray wolf.” said Jennifer Eskra, Director of Legislative Affairs at Humane World Action Fund “At a time of growing biodiversity loss, it is essential that legislators prioritize science over politics and stand with the millions of Americans who support the ESA.”

“The Endangered Species Act is one of America’s most respected and successful conservation laws. Unfortunately, Representative Westerman’s ESA amendments are crafted for greedy billionaires clinging to a 19th-century vision of plundering the planet,” said Endangered Species Coalition National Policy Director Jewel Tomasula. “This bill would devastate the sea turtles people love to see at the beach, the bumblebees that pollinate our food crops, and the spotted owls that indicate healthy forests. This bill would destroy wildlife and wild places, not protect them.”

“These reckless attacks on the Endangered Species Act and gray wolves are nothing more than a giveaway to industry at the expense of our nation’s most imperiled wildlife,” said Joanna Zhang, endangered species advocate at WildEarth Guardians. “Gutting protections for species on the brink of extinction is not reform—it’s a death sentence. Americans overwhelmingly support the ESA because it works, and we urge our representatives in Congress not to stand by while Trump and his allies try to dismantle one of our most effective conservation laws.”

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For Immediate Release: March 25, 2025
Contacts:
Jewel Tomasula jewel@endangered.org
Susan Holmes sholmes@endangered.org

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries will consider legislation to amend the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and a separate bill to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list today.

Introduced by Representative Westerman (R-AR), the ESA Amendments Act of 2025 (H.R. 1897) would gut core protections for our most endangered wildlife. The bill would bring back regulations put in place by the Trump administration in 2019, which the Biden administration subsequently revised. It would slow the species listing process, speed up delisting, undermine the work of experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and gut the consultation process that ensures federal agencies do not take actions that could drive a species extinct.

“The Endangered Species Act is one of America’s most respected and successful conservation laws. Ninety-nine percent of the species listed are with us today because of the ESA. Unfortunately, Representative Westerman’s ESA amendments are crafted for greedy billionaires clinging to a 19th-century vision of plundering the planet,” said Endangered Species Coalition National Policy Director Jewel Tomasula. “This bill would devastate the sea turtles people love to see at the beach, the bumblebees that pollinate our food crops, and the spotted owls that indicate healthy forests. This bill would destroy wildlife and wild places, not protect them.”

The hearing will also consider H.R. 845, sponsored by Representative Boebert (CO-04), which seeks to remove gray wolves from the list of endangered and threatened species and prohibit any challenges to the law in court. Specifically, the bill would reinstate a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) delisting decision issued in November 2020, the end of the first Trump administration, which was overturned in court because FWS did not use the best available science, among other serious errors.

“The return of the gray wolf to the lower-48 states is one of America’s greatest conservation success stories,” said Susan Holmes, Executive Director, Endangered Species Coalition.  “Removing protection for wolves would reverse the recovery of one of our most beloved species and take us back to a time when wolves were shot, trapped, and poisoned until they disappeared from the landscape.  Endangered Species Act protections remain key to ensuring gray wolves return to the American landscape where they belong,” said Holmes.    

“Both these bills are completely out of step with the public and their love of wildlife, “ continued Holmes. “The Endangered Species Act has overwhelming bipartisan support. Eighty-nine percent of democrats and eighty percent of republicans support the ESA,”  said Holmes. According to a recent poll by the National Parks Conservation Association, 84 percent of Americans support returning wolves to suitable national park landscapes in the Lower 48.

Background on the Endangered Species Act

The ESA provides practical solutions to recover plant and animal species threatened with extinction. As of 2023, 99% of all species listed as “endangered” or “threatened” under the ESA have been saved from extinction. Hundreds of species are on the path to recovery, thanks to actions facilitated and enforced under the ESA, which include partnerships with dedicated researchers, field workers, citizen scientists, and volunteers working to save species throughout the country.

Background on gray wolves

Approximately two million gray wolves roamed North America in the early 1800s, but both legal and illegal efforts eradicated them from the continental United States. Today, gray wolf numbers are fewer than 7,000, and they occupy only about 10 percent of their historic range in the Lower 48 States. A successful U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-led restoration effort in the mid-1990s, in partnership with Nez Perce Tribe, brought wolves back throughout the Northern Rockies region, and a voter-initiated effort to restore the species to Colorado began in 2024. Other areas of suitable habitat in the U.S. do not yet have an established population of gray wolves.

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Wolves first started to recolonize the state in 2008 when the first successful breeding pair produced a litter. During the past seventeen years while we have seen an overall increase in numbers their rate of growth has slowed, poaching has increased, and the number of breeding pairs declined from 2022 to 2023.

 We still don’t have any packs or breeding pairs in the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast recovery zone the largest of the state’s three recovery zone.

During 2023 and 2024 the Endangered Species Coalition and our allies successfully helped defeat a proposal from the Department of Fish and Wildlife that would have down listed protections of wolves from endangered to sensitive under the state Endangered Species Act. This was especially important as the wolves in the eastern third of the state are not protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Last year the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to deny the department’s request as it did not meet the State’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, was based on a scientifically disputed modeling study, and didn’t focus on the recovery of wolves throughout the state.

This year’s Washington House Bill 1311 would have overturned the commission’s decision.  Our staff lobbied and testified against the bill and our Washington State members inundated the legislature with comments against the bill which helped kill it.

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The post For Immediate Release: Judge Upholds Ruling Limiting Wolf Trapping, Snaring in Idaho appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Contact: Ryan Sedgeley,rsedgeley@endangered.org

Wolf Restoration Film Welcome Home Wins Best Conservation Film at The Portland EcoFilm Festival

Montrose, CO – January 28, 2025—The Endangered Species Coalition with Reel Earth Films is thrilled to announce that our short documentary film, Welcome Home, has been awarded the Best Conservation Film at the prestigious Portland EcoFilm Festival! This honor celebrates the powerful storytelling and impactful message behind our film, which tells the story of how people across Colorado are working together to make gray wolf restoration a success.

Welcome Home celebrates the reintroduction of wolves to Colorado. When the people of Colorado voted to return wolves to the state, they set in motion a unique conservation success story. The film shows the value of returning this historic carnivore and how people and wildlife can live together. 

Alan Lacy, director of Welcome Home, expressed their gratitude: “When we set out to produce “Welcome Home,” our goal was to create a film that not only captured this monumental moment for conservation in Colorado but to celebrate the decision of the people within the state to bring back wolves. Winning Best Conservation Film at the Portland EcoFilm Festival extends this celebration as a victory for wolves returning to their native habitat, and it’s truly an honor to continue this celebration as part of this year’s festival.” The Portland EcoFilm Festival is one of the leading showcases for films that focus on environmental and conservation themes, attracting filmmakers and audiences from around the globe. Winning this award underscores the importance and urgency of the issues presented in Welcome Home and highlights its ability to resonate deeply with viewers.

The Endangered Species Coalition and Reel Earth Films would like to thank the festival organizers, judges, and our incredible team of collaborators, including The Volgenau Foundation, Associate Producer Alana Helapitage, Cinematographer Chris Fischer, and Writer and Editor Patrick Lehr. Most importantly, we extend our gratitude to the communities and individuals who shared their stories and inspired this work.

As part of the momentum from this award, we are excited to announce that the film can be viewed at select film festivals across the world, with a public release planned for 2025. We invite everyone to join us in spreading awareness of this conservation success and driving positive change for the future of our wildlife.

For more information about Welcome Home, including upcoming events and how to support its mission, please visit endangered.org/welcomehome.

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Tell your member of Congress to support the bipartisan Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons Act.

This bill will ban the use of vehicles (snowmobiles or otherwise) to intentionally kill wildlife on federal lands managed by the Department of Interior. It comes in response to Wyoming’s failure to act in response to the torture and killing of a wolf in the state¹ earlier this year.

Tell Congress to pass this law to protect wolves, coyotes, and other wildlife from being killed by snowmobiles.

You likely remember the horrific incident in Wyoming where a Wyoming cattle rancher and trophy hunter ran down a young wolf who later came to be called Thiea, took her–in her injured but still-living state–to a bar where he paraded her around before shooting her to death behind the bar. This sociopathic conduct should not be permissible anywhere. But the state of Wyoming chose to protect the legal right to kill wildlife with snowmobiles² in its only official response.

If Wyoming and other states in the Northern Rockies where “wolf whacking” (running wolves down with snowmobiles) choose not to act, Congress must do what they won’t or can’t. This legislation is a strong step in that direction. It would criminalize “wolf whacking” on lands managed by the Department of Interior. Again, it has bipartisan support and the backing numerous conservation and animal welfare organizations.

Congress should act to prevent this and similar anti-conservation acts of violence by passing the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons Act promptly–before snow falls again in the Northern Rockies and more wolves and coyotes are senselessly slaughtered. Please ask your U.S. Representative to support this legislation.

Sincerely,

Susan Holmes
Executive Director
Endangered Species Coalition
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PS. Are the links not working? Please take action at this URL: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-ban-killing-wildlife-with-snowmobiles

1. https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/fight-for-justice-protecting-wolves-like-theia-from-brutalities-in-wyoming

2. https://www.buffalobulletin.com/news/article_e1d48b10-80fa-11ef-bc53-4387e0d8430b.html

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Idaho Fish and Game brochure distributed to sport shops ignores grizzly bear protections 

Boise, Idaho—The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) distributed a brochure that misleads the public about a binding legal order limiting recreational wolf trapping in the state’s grizzly bear habitat when the bears are active on the landscape. In March 2024, Federal Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale issued an order prohibiting Idaho from authorizing wolf trapping and snaring in Idaho’s Panhandle, Clearwater, Salmon, and Upper Snake regions between March 1 and November 30 on public and private lands to prevent the unlawful harm or killing of Endangered Species Act-protected grizzly bears. 

The post Idaho Wolf-Trapping Brochure Misleads Public About Judge’s Binding Order  appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

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Endangered Species Coalition staff and our Washington State volunteers led the grassroots efforts in opposition to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s proposed downlisting of the wolf’s status from endangered to sensitive.  

State protection for wolves is important as wolves are only protected in the western two-thirds of the state under the Endangered Species Act.

Wolves returned to Washington in 2008 but still only number approximately 250 animals.

In 2011, Washington Developed a Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, a nearly 300-page document subjected to peer review and analyzed through an Environmental Impact Statement. 

The Plan sets standards before wolves can be delisted or downlisted, and Washington’s wolf population has not met these benchmarks.   

The Plan established three wolf recovery zones: Eastern Washington, Northern Cascades, and the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast. To downlist to threatened, the Plan requires at least two successful breeding pairs in each of the three recovery regions. To downlist to sensitive, the Plan requires at least four successful breeding pairs in each of the three recovery regions. 

There are no successful breeding pairs in the South Cascades and Northwest Coast recovery zone, the largest recovery zone with the most wolf habitat. 

Under pressure from special interests, the department chose to ignore the conservation and management plan and proposed downlisting wolves to sensitive status. This would have decreased the penalties for poaching wolves from $5,000 and/or up to a year in jail to $1,000 and/or up to 90 days in jail when wolf poaching incidents are on the rise.   It would have also eliminated the requirement that foresters avoid tree harvesting and road construction within 1 mile of known wolf den sites, a rule that will become increasingly important as the wolf population moves west. 

When the department proposed the downlisting in February 2023, 681 of our Washington members commented opposing it. When the final draft proposal was released this year in March, ESC testified against it, and 423 Washington residents and 8,851 members from across the country submitted comments.

The commission decided to vote on the proposal at its July meeting. In response, the Endangered Species Coalition turned out over 40 of our members to testify at their June meeting.And on the weekend before the July vote we were able to get over 100 of our Washington State members to write personal letters to the commissioners opposing the proposal.Along with other environmental organizations, we intensely lobbied commissioners until the last moment. 

The outcome of the vote was unknown and only decided once the votes were cast. One commissioner switched his vote to keep wolves listed as endangered, giving wolves a 5 to 4 victory.

The post WIN in Washington state! Wolves to remain protected as endangered appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Make a gift to protect wolves and it will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

As the Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition, I am reaching out to you today with both a sense of urgency and hope. After years of conservation efforts, wolves have begun to return to their former homes. The first litter of pups has been born to the wolves reintroduced in Colorado and California has seven confirmed wolf packs. Yet, even as we celebrate this progress, their kin faces dire challenges in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies, where threats loom.

That is why this summer, with your support, we are ramping up our efforts. We have initiated a new national campaign to stop the epidemic of cruelty and killing and to advocate for a strong National Gray Wolf Recovery Plan that will ensure wolves return to their rightful place on the American landscape.

Like me, you know that protecting and recovering wolves is more than just a cause–it’s a testament to our commitment to preserving the rich tapestry of life on our planet. That’s why I’m excited to share our Summer Matching Campaign for Wolves with you. Thanks to a generous donor, every gift you make will be matched, doubling your impact in our fight to safeguard wolves and other endangered species.

Donate now and have your gift matched to protect wolves!

But our work to save wolves cannot succeed without your generous support. Your gift today will fuel our advocacy and help to ensure wolves can thrive in their natural habitats without the shadow of extinction.

Join other supporters in making a stand for wolves. Imagine a future where the howls of wolves in the wild are not just echoes of the past but a living, breathing part of our natural world. With your donation, we can turn this vision into reality.

Make a gift now, and it will be matched dollar-for-dollar doubling your impact to save wolves.

By supporting the Endangered Species Coalition, you’re not just giving to an organization; you’re joining a community dedicated to making a lasting difference. Together, we can begin to overcome the challenges wolves face and ensure they remain a symbol of wilderness for future generations.

Thank you for your support and for standing with us in our campaign to protect and restore gray wolves.

With gratitude,

Susan Holmes
Executive Director
Endangered Species Coalition

P.S. Remember, your gift will be matched during our Summer Matching Campaign, amplifying your impact for wolves in Colorado and beyond. Don’t wait – act now to protect these incredible animals. (Make your matched donation here!)

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