Sponsors (13)
This bill trades federal Endangered Species Act protections and coordinated conservation of the Mexican wolf for increased local control and easier lethal management—benefiting some ranchers, hunters, and local authorities while raising risks to population recovery, ecosystem values, economic benefits from wildlife tourism, and consistent public oversight.
Ranchers and farmers near Mexican wolf reintroduction areas can more easily use lethal control to remove wolves harming livestock because ESA-related restrictions would be lifted.
State and local governments gain more direct control over wolf management, allowing simpler and faster local responses to human–wolf conflicts without federal ESA constraints.
Recreational hunters and other local wildlife users could see increased game availability if wolf populations are reduced or managed with fewer restrictions.
The public and conservation stakeholders face higher risk of Mexican wolf population declines and weakened coordinated recovery efforts because delisting removes federal ESA protections across the species' range.
Local communities and the public could experience reduced transparency and uneven protections because responsibility would shift to state or private actors, producing inconsistent management and less public input.
Communities that rely on wildlife-dependent tourism and ecosystem services could see economic harm if protections are lifted and wolf populations decline, reducing nature recreation revenue.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Removes the Mexican wolf from ESA protections in the U.S., invalidates two FWS rules, and bars considering Mexican population status in future U.S. listing or recovery actions.
Removes the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) from the Endangered Species Act lists in the United States and invalidates two prior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service final rules related to the Mexican wolf. It also prohibits the Secretary of the Interior (through the FWS Director) from considering the status of Mexican wolves in Mexico when relisting, changing status, or developing recovery plans for the Mexican wolf within the U.S. if the species is listed again after enactment. The text includes findings about recent population counts (at least 286 wild and about 350 captive at the end of 2024), population growth, depredation impacts, and agency practices. The law focuses narrowly on the legal status of the Mexican wolf and limits the factors federal officials may weigh in future listing or recovery decisions in the U.S.
Introduced June 30, 2025 by Paul Gosar · Last progress June 30, 2025