Pacific Northwest Gray Wolves Relief Act of 2025
Gray Wolf Protection Removal in Oregon and Washington
The Pacific Northwest Gray Wolves Relief Act of 2025 is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It was recently sent to the House Committee on Natural Resources for review. There are no upcoming votes scheduled at this time.
Legislative Progress
While this has strong support from regional leaders and ranchers, it faces significant pushback from environmental groups and many lawmakers who prefer federal oversight for endangered species.
Key Points
- This bill would take gray wolves in Oregon and Washington off the federal endangered species list. It requires the government to bring back a 2020 rule that ended federal protections for these animals in those specific states.
- The change would give state officials more power to manage wolf populations. This often includes allowing people to hunt or trap wolves that are seen as a threat to livestock like cows and sheep.
- Ranchers and farmers in the Pacific Northwest are the main group affected. They argue that wolf numbers have grown enough that federal protection is no longer needed and that the wolves are hurting their businesses.
- If this becomes law, the Department of the Interior would have 60 days to put the old rule back into effect. This would shift the responsibility of protecting or managing the wolves from the federal government to state agencies.
- Environmental groups generally oppose this move. They worry that losing federal oversight could lead to too many wolves being killed, which might hurt the long term survival of the species in the region.
Impact Analysis
Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.
Milestones
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
News
No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Pacific Northwest Gray Wolves Relief Act of 2025
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
(2)Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.