Manage Our Wolves Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, this bill sets several incredibly damaging precedents, fundamentally weakening the protections of our Nation's threatened and endangered species.

The Endangered Species Act is one of the most effective and important conservation laws ever passed by Congress. The success is due, in large part, to a careful scrutiny of scientific evidence and the critical analysis of all factors when making decisions on the status of a species.

The Manage Our Wolves Act would remove protections under the ESA for one of the Nation's iconic wildlife species, without an opportunity for public participation in the rulemaking process for delisting. Even more troubling, this bill would explicitly ban any judicial review of the delisting of gray wolves in both the Great Lakes and nationwide.

No judicial oversight will be allowed for the removal of the science- based protections established under the Endangered Species Act. A species is only listed as endangered or threatened, or delisted upon its successful recovery, after a rigorous assessment of its extinction.

By eliminating judicial review of ESA delisting actions, this legislation removes the ability of the public and the scientific community to participate in the process. Access to a court of law is a cornerstone of American democracy and a fundamental part of our government.

The judicial branch is also where the American people can have their voices heard and they can have a say in our system of checks and balances. Stopping our independent Federal courts from reviewing the actions of Federal agencies, or of Congress, violates this access to justice principle. It is simply undemocratic. It undermines the necessary oversight of government decisions.

For years, the courts have served as an important forum for addressing disputes over ESA-related decisions. This legislation's attempt to remove judicial review from the ESA decision has no scientific or legal basis. It is simply a politically expedient move.

By prioritizing politics over conservation, this bill would cause irreparable damage to the integrity of the Endangered Species Act and sets a dangerous precedent of overriding the careful deliberations of the court.

Mr. Speaker, we should not support legislatively mandating decisions about vulnerable species. We should not circumvent the established process for making ESA determinations.

For this reason, I would urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I was recently in Yellowstone in the last month and a half. And, yes, there was a fire in Yellowstone. I am from Minnesota. I know all about after fires go in, and the moose munch, as we call it, around the boundary waters in the Voyageurs National Park area comes back and you can start seeing moose. They start doing better. The same thing is true of the elk. I saw elk literally right out a car window. They are doing better.

But it is also very important to remember what Congressman DeFazio said about how, when the wolves are interactive and they are part of the regrowth and the rebirth of our forest system, the wolf, by being a predator, helps protect the stream banks and the rest from the elk and other animals from being on the stream banks and pressing them down. That has a big ripple effect on fish and other wildlife in the ecosystem, especially in Yellowstone.

So I appreciate the gentleman's remarks about Yellowstone, but it is just not one thing that is causing the elk to come back healthy. It is the wolf population, as well.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source