Unfair Enforcement of Endangered Species Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BENTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call out the injury and injustice being inflicted on my State and my constituents by the inappropriate and unfair enforcement of the Endangered Species Act as it has been and is being applied to the reintroduction of the gray wolf.

This injustice is apparent in the Federal Government's inability to manage and control the killing and maiming of livestock and in the failure of the government to properly pay the costs of its decision to reintroduce the wolf.

I will address the lack of management first. Let me begin my discussion of failed management by showing several pictures, which are graphic illustrations of the reality that my ranching families face all too often.

Mr. Speaker, as you can see, there is nothing refined about how a wolf goes about feeding itself. You can imagine the feelings of the rancher when he or she finds livestock torn apart and dying.

Mr. Speaker, these animals may have been part of the herd for a decade or more.

We can try to imagine the incredible anger they feel, knowing they are legally prevented from stopping the wolf that caused this pain and horror to their cattle and calves from doing this again and again.

I have held meeting after meeting across my district, listening over and over to stories about wolves attacking herds, scattering cattle, and ignoring the ineffective hazing efforts that owners of these cattle are allowed to use under the law to try to protect their livelihoods. The anger and intense frustration they feel is totally understandable. It is why I am on the floor today, sharing as best I can their pain with my colleagues.

If we are to protect those who are trying their best to feed this country, to make a living, to keep their small and often remote communities viable, to put out range fires, to pay their taxes, and to continue to be productive parts of this Nation, we need to delist the wolf and move the management of these animals back to the States.

Let me turn to the actual cost of the reintroduction of the wolf and the need for those who have created this cost to be responsible for paying it.

The actual annual cost of the wolf, imposed upon the cattle businesses across this Nation, as of a few years ago is estimated to be $128 million a year. This number is higher now that cattle prices are higher. Many think the only cost of the wolf is the killing of livestock, but the impact of primal fear that cattle understandably feel when a wolf is near has dramatic and serious impacts on weight gain and on pregnancy rates.

These losses are real, and they are serious. At a time when even the President is concerned about beef prices, these losses affect everyone by reducing the size of the cattle herds and their productivity.

There has been legislation enacted, both in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and at the State level, to try to bring some reimbursement equity into play by providing at least some payment for the death of cattle caused by wolves. These programs, although welcome, come nowhere near to making those damaged by wolves whole.

In addition, I can assure everyone that the rancher would absolutely be happier if he or she could completely avoid the losses that lead to asking for justice under these programs.

If we are properly, fairly, and logically to manage the wolf, we must pass Representatives Boebert and Tom Tiffany's bill, H.R. 845, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act. This would delist the wolf and allow States to manage these populations.

If we are to properly allocate responsibility for the monetary costs of the wolf, those millions of dollars each year unjustly imposed on ranchers and farmers damaged by the reintroduction, we must appropriate the money needed to make these good people whole.

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