Articles
Congress seeks endangered species law changes after grizzly hunt axed
Washington,
September 27, 2018
Associated Press |
Galvanized by court rulings protecting grizzly bears and gray wolves, Congressional Republicans on Wednesday pushed sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act despite strong objections from Democrats and wildlife advocates who called the effort a “wildlife extinction package.” Republicans began with a morning vote in the House Natural Resource Committee to strip protections from gray wolves across the contiguous U.S. Courts restored safeguards for wolves in the Great Lakes region in 2014, frustrating states that had been allowing hunts to control wolf populations. Later Wednesday, lawmakers took up changes to the endangered species law itself, with a suite of bills that supporters said would make the law work better and eliminate obstacles to economic progress. “Domestic dogs cause more cattle losses than wolves do, and nobody’s talking about trapping (and) hunting dogs,” said Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, referring to U.S. Agriculture reports on predator losses. |