Rep. Tom Tiffany and Fellow GOP Lawmakers Bring Back Bill to Delist Gray Wolf
Bill would remove federal protections for gray wolves across most of the country.
Gray wolf standing in the snow. Eric Kilby (CC BY-SA)
Wisconsin U.S. House Rep. Tom Tiffany and GOP lawmakers have reintroduced a bill to remove federal protections for gray wolves across most of the country.
Tiffany, R-Minocqua, co-sponsored the legislation with Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado along with 30 other lawmakers, including Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation. If approved, the plan would remove Endangered Species Act protection from around 4,400 wolves found in the Great Lakes region, as well as nearly 2,800 wolves in seven western states.
The proposal would bar courts from reviewing the decision as animal rights and environmental groups have mounted multiple legal challenges over the years to ensure protections for wolves. Tiffany told WPR that Wisconsin has seen wolf attacks increase in the last three years.
“People’s pets and livestock are being slaughtered at this point, and it’s time for it to end,” Tiffany said. “Let’s get back to balance, where we believe wolves belong on the landscape, but there must be balance. We don’t have that.”
Tiffany said “The Pet and Livestock Protection Act” would return wolf management to states, including Wisconsin. State law mandates a wolf hunt when the animal isn’t under federal protection.
The bill is similar to one that passed the U.S. House last year, but it failed to advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate. In November, Republicans gained control of Congress and the White House, bolstering the bill’s prospects for passage. The proposal would require bipartisan support to obtain the 60 votes needed for passage in the Senate.
Most recent data from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources shows the wolf population has grown to nearly 1,000 and appears to be stabilizing.
Wisconsin had 98 verified wolf conflicts last year, according to DNR data. That’s up from 78 in 2023 and 59 in 2022. The state also recorded 17 conflicts with hunting dogs in 2022, which grew to 29 complaints in 2023. Last year, the DNR recorded 26 conflicts involving hunting dogs.
The legislation received support from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association and Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association. Brady Zuck, past president of the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association, said producers have faced numerous challenges as the state’s gray wolf population has grown.
“The most direct impact has been depredation on livestock, but we cannot ignore the secondary impacts such as damage to fences as cattle are chased, interrupted grazing behavior, and reduced fertility rates,” Zuck said in a press release.
Last year, 31 farms reported 63 verified complaints involving livestock, representing a tiny fraction of the state’s 58,500 farms.
Bill requires Interior Secretary to reissue 2020 rule delisting wolf
The legislation requires that the secretary for the U.S. Department of Interior reissue a 2020 rule that delisted gray wolves in the lower 48 states during President Donald Trump’s first term. If passed, the regulation would be reissued within 60 days. Federal protections for wolves were officially lifted in 2021.
A federal judge restored protections for the animal in 2022. The gray wolf is listed as endangered in 43 states, including Wisconsin. In 2011, Congress removed Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies region.
Animal rights and environmental groups, along with Wisconsin’s Ojibwe tribes, have expressed concerns about lifting federal protections for wolves and returning management to state wildlife regulators. In February 2021, during the period when federal protection was lifted, state-licensed hunters killed 218 wolves in less than three days, surpassing a quota of 200 wolves split between state hunters and tribes.
“Certainly we’ve seen what wolf delisting does and did do in 2021 to wolves,” said Melissa Smith, executive director of the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance.
One study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers said hunters and poachers may have killed one third of the state’s wolf population after the animal was delisted in 2021. Smith said she’s concerned about the bill’s effects on tribes and the DNR’s ability to effectively manage wolves.
“I have serious doubts in the accountability, transparency and democracy of the agency, especially when what’s going on federally, that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not be able to to monitor the situation of a freshly delisted species.”
Tiffany argued the 2021 hunt has been mischaracterized, adding hunters “barely” went over quota.
In 2023, the Natural Resources Board signed off on an updated management plan for Wisconsin wolves that did not include a numeric population goal. The previous wolf plan, approved in 1999 and revised in 2007, set a population goal of 350 wolves.
The DNR said the new plan would provide more flexibility in managing wolves if they’re delisted as an endangered species. The plan aims to maintain numbers between 800 and 1,200 wolves.
A DNR spokesperson declined to comment on the bill. The agency has previously said it stands ready to assume state management if there’s any federal change in the wolf’s status.
Wisconsin lawmakers have previously introduced bills to remove or reduce protections for gray wolves in the Great Lakes region. Last year, Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin introduced a bill that suggested the threatened listing for Minnesota’s wolf population should be expanded to include Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The designation, which has been in place since 1978, would allow killing of wolves that threaten people, pets and livestock.
US Rep. Tom Tiffany and GOP lawmakers bring back bill to delist gray wolf was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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