SE Wyoming News

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) criticized U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Martha Williams during an Environmental and Public Works (EPW) Committee hearing, focusing on the agency’s delayed response to Wyoming’s grizzly bear delisting petition and its management of wolf populations.

Lummis questioned Director Williams about the agency’s delay in responding to Wyoming’s petition to classify grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as a distinct population segment and remove them from the endangered species list. "You said you will follow the law and the science, but let’s talk about grizzly delisting because you’re doing neither," stated Lummis. "In January 2022, two and a half years ago, the state of Wyoming filed a petition with Fish and Wildlife Services to establish grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as a distinct population segment that is neither threatened nor endangered and to remove it from the endangered species list."

"By law, your agency is required to make a determination within 12 months of receiving the application. We are now two and a half years out from when the petition was submitted, and your agency has stated you won’t have a decision until July. Further, the science established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decades ago proves that the grizzly has recovered and is way over population criteria," added Lummis.

Lummis also questioned the agency's decision to hire a third-party mediator to discuss coexistence strategies for wolves while establishing a National Recovery Plan for wolves already under state jurisdiction.

Last month, Senator Lummis led Senators Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in introducing Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions aimed at overturning key reforms to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) made by the Biden administration. These reforms had initially been implemented during President Trump's tenure to increase stakeholder engagement, define critical habitat, and ensure effective species recovery plans.

For video of Lummis during the committee hearing, click here.