Washington, D.C. – In response to Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s announcement that Interior plans to remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) safeguards for almost all gray wolves in the lower-48 states, LCV Conservation Program Director Alex Taurel issued the following statement:

“Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is letting his own longstanding hostility to one of our nation’s bedrock conservation laws shape his policy decisions, rather than allowing science to inform protections for imperiled species. It should come as no surprise since Bernhardt has used his tenures in the Bush and Trump Administrations, as well as his time as a fossil fuel industry lobbyist, to advocate for weaker safeguards that put species at risk.While there have been significant successes in restoring gray wolves to some of their former habitat, gray wolves still only occupy a small portion of their historic range.

“LCV will continue to oppose the Trump Administration’s attacks on the Endangered Species Act, our nation’s most effective law for protecting wildlife in danger of extinction, and we will continue to urge senators to oppose David Bernhardt’s nomination for Secretary of the Interior.”

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