WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress should let science and best management practices, not politics, guide gray wolf and other species conservation decisions. The National Wildlife Federation urged lawmakers to set aside a bill that would override the Endangered Species Act for gray wolves nationwide as well as other similar pending bills to override the law for grizzly bears, lesser prairie chickens, greater sage grouse, and other at-risk species. 

“Endangered species decisions must be guided by science, not politics. Congress should resist the urge to micromanage species-management decisions and the scientific determinations of wildlife biologists and land managers,” said Mike Leahy, senior director of wildlife, hunting and fishing policy, National Wildlife Federation. “Congress should instead focus on how to support and fund the work of state, territorial, and Tribal wildlife managers."