A bill favored by hunters and ranchers to remove federal protections for the gray wolf, delisting it from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), passed the U.S. House on Dec. 18.

If approved by the Senate and President Donald Trump, the “Pet and Livestock Protection Act” would return management of the species to state wildlife officials and prevent legal challenges seeking to overturn the delisting.

The legislation, sponsored by Reps. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), directs the U.S. Department of the Interior to reissue the November 2020 delisting rule, which was vacated by a federal court in 2022.

“The gray wolf has recovered, and Wisconsin should be allowed to responsibly manage a population that has exceeded recovery goals without interference from out-of-state judges,” Tiffany said in a statement.

The bill passed the House 211–204, with five Democrats—Reps. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Tex.), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.)—also voting in favor of it.

Four Republicans—Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), Randy Fine (R-Fla.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), and Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.)—voted against it.

Thirty-six members of Congress cosponsored the bipartisan bill.

Boebert said the passage was a “major win for ranchers, farmers, and property owners in Colorado and nationwide.”

In 2020, the Trump administration delisted the gray wolf in the lower 40 states, but the listing was overturned by a California judge two years later.

Since then, wolf attacks in Wisconsin, for instance, have increased. In 2024, the state paid out more than $320,000 to cover wolf-caused losses—the second-highest amount in four decades, according to Tiffany.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association also supported the legislation.

“For too long, ranchers have grappled with the pendulum swing of regulatory determination on the gray wolf,” said association President and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein.

Restoration of the 2020 wolf delisting will give management decisions back to cattle producers “who are suffering financially and emotionally from wolf depredations that increase every year,” Wehrbein added.

The bill is a “historic win” for hunters, ranchers, farmers, and rural communities across America, according to the conservative hunter advocacy group Hunter Nation.

Hunter Nation CEO Keith Mark said he has been fighting for the legislation.

“The recovery of the gray wolf is an incredible conservation success story that should be celebrated,” Mark said in a statement. “The legislation allows each state to manage the now recovered wolf population just as they manage all other wildlife within the state.”

Environmental activists at the Sierra Club, however, warned the bill would strip the gray wolves of protections in 60 days, if passed.

“Anti-wildlife lawmakers are once again attacking the Endangered Species Act, this time by targeting gray wolves,” said Sierra Club’s deputy legislative director Bradley Williams in a statement. “Blocking judicial review only adds to the recklessness of this bill.”