Ahead of tomorrow’s House Appropriations Committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, the Wolf Conservation Center joined 79 other environmental organizations in sending the below letter to members of the committee urging them to oppose anti-wildlife riders included in the must-pass spending bill.  

Sec. 128 would delist gray wolves nationwide, stripping them of much-needed federal protections at a time when their future has never been more uncertain. The bill would also ban judicial review, meaning the decision couldn’t be challenged in court.  

The practice of delisting a species via poison pill riders in spending bills began with Senator John Tester (MT) in 2011. Facing a challenging re-election campaign, Sen. Tester included a rider in the must-paced budget bill that removed wolves in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Utah from the federal endangered species list. The passage of the bill, and subsequent delisting, marked the first time since the creation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973 that Congress removed protections for a species.  

If the bill moves forward as is, it will include the largest number of anti-wildlife poison pill riders (17) that have been included in appropriations legislation since the inception of the ESA.