Today, March 3, is World Wildlife Day (WWD). Established in 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly, WWD marks the anniversary of the “signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora”, also known as CITES. This agreement was created to address the wildlife trade that pushes species towards extinction and raise awareness of other threats native wild plants and animals face, such as habitat loss and climate change.
Today is about more than just celebrating Earth’s plants and animals. It acts as a staunch reminder of the intertwined fates of humans and the natural world. So many of our systems are tied to the health of our environment. As we see more wild species disappear due to human actions, their absence will be felt not just in our hearts but also in our food systems, climate, and economies.
However, here in the United States, many of our established environmental protection policies are under attack by various Republican-backed bills. One of those bills is the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, also known as the Boebert Anti-Wolf Bill. Introduced by Representative Lauren Boebert last year, this bill’s goal is to remove grey wolves from the Endangered Species List (EDL), making it legal to hunt and kill them under the guise of potentially protecting livestock. Boebert and other Republican lawmakers claim that there is no reason to continue to protect grey wolves, as their population has recovered, and that to do so would be a waste of taxpayer money. However, while grey wolves have shown great progress in certain areas of the US, mainstream science agrees that they have still not reached full recovery. Additionally, grey wolves are a keystone species, meaning the survival and population health of many other species rely on their presence in the ecosystem.
If passed, this bill would set a dangerous precedent, as overturning the Endangered Species Act is a slippery slope. The bill would also block judicial review, making it nearly impossible to reinstate the grey wolf onto the EDL if its population numbers were to decline as a result. This bill has successfully passed the House and is currently awaiting a vote in the Senate. It is important that the public speak out against this bill. The Trump administration and Republican leadership have made it clear with this bill and others that they do not care about protecting the environment, so it is vitally important for the American public to speak out against this bill. If we don’t act now, it may be too late for grey wolves, who could move from the endangered list to the extinct one.
