[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 130 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S3761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. Crapo, and Ms. Lummis):
  S. 2571. A bill to provide for determination of the grizzly bear 
species consistent with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. RISCH. Madam President, I rise today to introduce the Grizzly 
Bear Review and Resource Restart Act.
  The grizzly bear was originally listed under the Endangered Species 
Act, ESA, in 1975 with the worthy intent to recover the species. The 
ESA has succeeded and grizzly bear populations have rebounded. However, 
the overly-broad listing, which covers all of the lower 48 States, has 
led courts to block the Fish and Wildlife Service from delisting 
populations which by all measures are recovered and no longer require 
strict ESA protections.
  This has prevented the ESA from being what it is meant to be, a 
temporary assistance for wildlife recovery. It was never intended to 
provide a permanent designation for robust species. If enacted, the 
Grizzly Bear Review and Resource Restart Act will remove the 
unreachable recovery targets based on the erroneous first listing and 
allow wildlife managers to focus on areas in the lower 48 which 
actually host grizzly bears, not the 30 States currently listed where 
bears never were in the first place.
  Giving the opportunity to ``delist and relist'' based on scientific 
and historic data rather than a panicked first plan from 1975 will help 
mitigate human-bear interactions, protect rural communities, and 
emphasize and recenter the role of science in grizzly bear recovery. It 
will also allow funding and focus to be given where it is needed most: 
to grizzly bear populations and other species actually at risk.
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