For Immediate Release
March 4, 2025
House Republicans Continue their Attacks on the Endangered Species Act
Western Watersheds Project’s Statement on House Natural Resources Oversight Subcommittee Hearing on Experimental Populations Under the Endangered Species Act
WASHINGTON – Today’s oversight hearing in the House Natural Resources Committee was intended to focus on the consequences of reintroducing populations of endangered species under a “10j” provision of the Endangered Species Act, but was primarily a broadside against reintroduced and recovering predators like grizzlies and wolves.
“It’s clear that House Republicans are pursuing a political agenda to undermine the Endangered Species Act rather than shed light on any actual issues with experimental populations,” said Josh Osher, public policy director for Western Watersheds Project. “From questions about chickens to complaints about black vultures, the hearing was a distraction from the very real issues facing this country, including the Trump Administration’s attacks on the very employees who are tasked with mitigating wildlife conflict and managing livestock on our public lands wildlife habitat.”
Three of the four witnesses were livestock operators who went to lengths to discuss the hardships imposed by restoring native wildlife but neglected to discuss the massive government subsidies supporting their industry’s use of public lands, which by some estimates, range upwards of $500,000,000 each year. The public lands grazing program is the epitome of inefficiency especially considering that federal public lands contribute only 1.6% of the total forage consumed by U.S. cattle.
“No mention was made by House Republicans of the fact that these livestock operations are occurring primarily on public lands, where livestock operators are heavily subsidized including an artificially low leasing fee of $1.35 per month for each cow/calf pair. Public lands are not exclusively for the use of private businesses. They belong to all Americans, and the majority of Americans want to see imperiled species recovered,” said Osher.
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