Endangered Species Law & Policy

The Committee on Natural Resources (Committee) in the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a number of bills regarding wildlife, including bills to reauthorize the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). While it is unclear whether any of these will gain traction, collectively they represent a significant effort to reform federal wildlife law. Below is a summary of the Committee’s efforts:

ESA Reauthorization: Committee Chair Westerman (R-Arkansas) is the lead sponsor of H.R. 1897. The Committee held a hearing on this bill on March 25, 2025. The bill addresses all of the major provisions of the ESA, including sections 4, 7, and 10, with changes proposed to listing, critical habitat, recovery, consultation, and habitat conservation planning provisions and codification of candidate conservation agreements as a conservation tool.

MMPA Reauthorization: Representative Begich (R-Alaska) is the lead sponsor of an MMPA reauthorization bill currently available as a discussion draft. The discussion draft was one of a number of bills discussed by the Committee in a hearing that took place on July 22, 2025. The bill proposes numerous changes to the MMPA, including both those provisions that specifically relate to fisheries management as well as those provisions relating to other activities that affect marine mammals.

Other ESA-related bills include:

H.R. 180. Representative McClintock (R-Calif.) is the sponsor of this bill that includes a small number of targeted proposed changes to the ESA, including a requirement to make data relied on for listing decisions publicly available and amendment of the provision that authorizes courts to award attorneys’ fees to prevailing plaintiffs in citizen suit litigation.

H.R. 181. Representative McClintock (R-Calif.) is the sponsor of this bill that would provide that artificially propagated animals shall be treated the same under the ESA as naturally propagated animals.

H.R. 281. Representative Hageman (R-Wyoming) is the lead sponsor of this bill that would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to delist the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) and preclude judicial review of that agency action.

H.R. 471. Committee Chair Westerman (R-Arkansas) is the lead sponsor of this bill that would remove the requirement that the Department of the Interior or Department of Agriculture reinitiate consultation under section 7 of the ESA on a land management plan or land use plan when a species is listed, critical habitat is designated, or new information concerning a listed species or critical habitat becomes available. This bill (and its Senate counterpart) have bipartisan support.

H.R. 845. Representative Boebert (R-Colorado) is the lead sponsor of this bill that would require the Service to delist the gray wolf (Canis lupus) and preclude judicial review of that agency action. On April 9, 2025, the Committee ordered this bill to be reported out.

H.R. 2608. Representative Roy (R-Texas) is the lead sponsor of this bill that would remove a number of exotic hoofstock species from the list of threatened and endangered species to ensure that those species can be hunted at game ranches in Texas and elsewhere.

H.R. 3845. Representative Gray (D-California) is the sponsor of this bill that proposed to amend section 7 of the ESA regarding interagency consultation by making changes to the so-called “God Squad” (or Endangered Species Committee) provisions. Under existing law, the God Squad has only been invoked a handful of times over the past half-century; this bill likely could make it a more common (though still infrequent) occurrence.