Aspen Times: Rep. Boebert propels effort to ‘uphold gray wolf science’
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, and Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin are leading an effort to oppose a federal judge’s decision to reinstate gray wolves as an endangered species.
Over the past decade, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has restored gray wolves in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona. In November 2020, Colorado voters passed Proposition 114, mandating the state reintroduce wolves west of the Continental Divide.
A letter dated Thursday and signed by Boebert, Tiffany and almost two dozen other lawmakers contend that state and private conservation efforts have been “more than adequate” and that gray wolf populations have far exceeded federal management objectives.
The letter cites an estimated 3,000 gray wolves across the Rocky Mountain states, including 1,543 in Idaho, 1,117 in Montana and another 327 in Wyoming.
“The gray wolf is fully recovered, should remain delisted in the lower 48 United States, and should be managed by the states,” Boebert said in a statement. “It’s really that simple. Some activist judge from California shouldn’t be able to overturn the best available science and contradict the law based on his own leftist political beliefs.”