No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4255 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4255
To remove the Mexican wolf from the lists of threatened species and
endangered species published pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of
1973, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 2025
Mr. Gosar (for himself, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Ms. Boebert, Mr. Crane,
Ms. Hageman, Mr. Hamadeh of Arizona, Mr. Hurd of Colorado, Mr. LaMalfa,
Mr. Stauber, Mr. Tiffany, and Mr. Zinke) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To remove the Mexican wolf from the lists of threatened species and
endangered species published pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of
1973, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Enhancing Safety for Animals Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. DELISTING OF MEXICAN WOLF.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Mexican wolf population has increased for 9
consecutive years, growing by at least 11 percent in 2024.
(2) At the end of 2024, the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service documented a presence of at least 286 wild Mexican
wolves and approximately 350 captive Mexican wolves.
(3) The United States Mexican Wolf population is thriving
and will meet its recovery goals for gene diversity, population
growth, and abundance.
(4) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has
repeatedly moved Mexican wolf recovery goalposts through
amended recovery plans, revised population and genetic
objectives, and reduced mitigation opportunities.
(5) Current United States Fish and Wildlife recovery
strategies and goals encompass not only the Mexican wolf
population in the United States, but also in Mexico.
(6) Americans in the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population
Area bear the brunt of a rapidly growing United States Mexican
wolf population without any chance of recovery because of
failing conservation activities in Mexico, a foreign country.
(7) Mexican wolves in the United States routinely kill
livestock, pose serious safety risks to humans and pets,
excessively prey upon game animals, and reduce recreational
opportunities.
(8) Depredation of cattle, horses, and other livestock by
Mexican wolves financially burdens American farmers and
ranchers living in and near the Mexican Wolf Experimental
Population Area.
(9) Rather than streamline Mexican wolf depredation
evidentiary standards to ensure ranchers are properly
compensated for livestock losses, the Wildlife Services
division of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
imposed for a year a new standard requiring that subcutaneous
hemorrhaging be present on carcasses as a condition of
confirming that an animal was killed by a Mexican wolf.
(10) Confirming that livestock were killed by Mexican
wolves is often impossible under the newly adopted evidentiary
standard because livestock grazing areas in and near the
Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area are often thousands
of acres in size, depredations are commonly only discovered
days after they occur, scavengers often devour livestock
carcasses along with depredation evidence, and subcutaneous
hemorrhaging remains preset for a short period of time
following depredation.
(11) Requiring evidence of subcutaneous hemorrhaging is
inconsistent with other widely accepted depredation evidentiary
standards like bite marks, tracks, and signs of struggle, and
significantly reduces the ability for livestock owners to be
made whole financially after suffering losses through Mexican
wolf depredation.
(12) The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's
opaque depredation evidentiary standards are not subject to a
public notice and comment process but are nevertheless blindly
adopted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
(13) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has
refused to take or approve sufficient lethal removal actions
against Mexican wolves despite the deaths, injuries, and damage
caused by Mexican wolves leading to at least 2 counties within
the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area declaring a
public disaster and emergency, and at least 1 Tribal government
formally supporting such declaration
(b) Delisting of Mexican Wolf.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is removed from the
lists of threatened species and endangered species, as applicable, that
are published pursuant to section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533).
(c) Nullification of Rules Relating to Mexican Wolf.--The following
final rules issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service with
respect to the Mexican wolf shall have no force or effect:
(1) The final rule titled ``Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Status for the Mexican Wolf''
(80 Fed. Reg. 2488; published January 16, 2015).
(2) The final rule titled ``Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife and Plants; Revision to the Nonessential Experimental
Population of the Mexican Wolf'' (87 Fed. Reg. 39348; published
July 1, 2022).
(d) Bifurcation of Mexican Wolf Population Criteria.--If the
Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is listed as a threatened species or
an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) after the date of the enactment of this section,
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, may not reference or otherwise
consider--
(1) the status of the recovery of the Mexican wolf in
Mexico in developing or implementing under section 4(f) of that
Act (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) a plan for the Mexican wolf; or
(2) the status of the Mexican wolf in Mexico in determining
under section 4(c) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)) whether the
Mexican wolf should be--
(A) changed in status from an endangered species to
a threatened species;
(B) changed in status from a threatened species to
an endangered species; or
(C) removed from the lists of threatened species
and endangered species, as applicable, that are
published pursuant to section 4 of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.
Subcommittee Hearings Held
Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Discharged
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 23 - 13.
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