Bill to delist wolves fails in Senate

The first of three U.S. Senate bills attempting to remove wolves from endangered species protection failed Tuesday. With time ticking down in the lame-duck Congress, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, along with Idaho cosponsors Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, also both Republicans, bypassed the committee process by requesting a unanimous consent agreement on Senate Bill 3919, which would have taken it to the floor and limited debate. The gamble was that a single “no” vote could block the bill, and one was provided by Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md. Senate Bill 3919 basically said that no federal protections for wolves would be enforced. Hatch introduced the bill at the end of September and it was referred to the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. Speaking from the floor, both Risch and Crapo said the number of wolves in Idaho has exceeded the number established for recovery. “Unfortunately, and despite their recovery, we have not been able to return management of wolves to the states, due to litigation and the inflexibility of the Endangered Species Act,” Crapo said. “In the meantime, large increases in wolf populations are resulting in substantial harm to our big-game herds and domestic livestock.”...more