The House of Representatives continues to churn out anti-wildlife measures, passing bills at the end of April to increase wolf slaughter and to prevent efforts to remove toxic lead from public lands.
One of these bills (HR 764) would remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves in the contiguous United States and would prevent courts from overturning this action. Such a move would be disastrous for wolf recovery. Furthermore, attempts to use legislation such as this to interfere with the sober, scientific evaluation process firmly established under the ESA, and then shielding such interference from review by federal courts would set a dangerous precedent.
HR 615, meanwhile, would prohibit two federal agencies from regulating the use of lead ammunition or fishing tackle. An estimated 10 to 20 million birds and other animals, including threatened and endangered species, die each year from lead poisoning in the United States from these sources. Comparable alternatives, such as copper and steel ammunition, are widely available and effective.