Fischbach calls for the delisting of gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act 

Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach co-signed a letter to House Leadership and Appropriations Committee leadership requesting any FY2024 spending package include the delisting of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act. In the release announcing this letter Fischbach said:

“State governments are fully qualified to responsibly manage gray wolf populations and are better able to meet the needs of local communities, ranchers, livestock, and wildlife populations. We cannot let an activist judge thousands of miles away decide what is best for Minnesota and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure the delisting of gray wolves in Appropriations legislation for Fiscal Year 2024.”

The gray wolf was first listed under the Endangered Species Act  in 1978 and has long since recovered, exceeding the original federal delisting goals. The International Union for Conservation Nature’s Species Survival Commission Wolf Specialist Group has placed gray wolves in the classification of “least concern” globally for risk of extinction. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services has attempted to delist the gray wolf, but these efforts have been blocked in the past. The last effort to delist gray wolf was blocked by a California Judge back in 2022. 

Groups calling for the delisting of gray wolves have been popping up across the state with some of these groups drawing hundreds of people to their meetings.