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Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced a final rule to remove gray wolves in the continental United States from the endangered species list, opening the door for states to allow increased hunting and trapping.
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to delist the gray wolf in March 2019, it opened a 120-day public comment period allowing stakeholders and members of the public to submit their views. In those four months, more than 757,000 people submitted comments.
A Center for Western Priorities analysis finds that the Trump administration ignored overwhelming public opposition in delisting the gray wolf—more than 97% of public comments opposed the proposal to delist the wolf, with only 1.5% of commenters supporting the proposal.
With three months remaining in the Trump administration’s first term, an ongoing CWP analysis has identified at least 71 remaining policy changes Interior Secretary Bernhardt hopes to finalize, along with dozens of proposals to weaken or remove protections for plants and animals on the endangered species list.
Interior IG finds USGS Director retaliated against a whistleblower
Interior's Office of Inspector General released a report finding that the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, James Reilly, violated the Whistleblower Protection Act by retaliating against a whistleblower who complained about his conduct. Reilly reassigned the employee shortly after learning about the complaint. The report was released just days after Trump appointees at the Interior Department tried to blame any ethical failures on the previous administration.
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[USGS Director] James Reilly has led the way in the Trump administration’s war on science and public servants. This investigation is a damning indictment of Reilly and the way Secretary Bernhardt runs the Interior Department. If Bernhardt had any respect for science and USGS scientists, he would fire Reilly on the spot to make it clear he has no tolerance for retaliation. But I’m not holding my breath.”
