A bill to remove gray wolves from federal threatened and endangered species lists in the 48 contiguous states has passed the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee.

“The best available science used by the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows that the gray wolf has recovered and is no longer endangered,” said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., co-sponsor of the Manage Our Wolves Act, HR 6784, introduced Sept. 12. It passed the committee 19-15 on Sept. 26.

Newhouse said he continues to work with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, which has been asking for federal delisting of the gray wolf since 2013.

“We must return management of the species to states to allow for more effective and accountable management that responds to the needs of the ecosystem, other species, and local communities,” Newhouse said.

“Science, not politics, should decide when to list and delist species. Gray wolf recovery is well underway, but the work is not done,” said Jason Rylander, Defenders of Wildlife attorney. “If Congress really is committed to preserving and protecting wildlife, it would spend its time finding the funding needed to recover species, not attacking the process.”

Other sponsors include Reps. Cathy McMorris Rogers, R-Wash.; Sean Duffy, R-Wis.; and Collin Peterson, D-Minn.

Management of gray wolves was transferred from states to the federal government following two 2014 U.S. District Court decisions that reinstated gray wolves under the protections of the Endangered Species Act.

The designations leave farmers and ranchers in those states without a legal avenue to protect their livestock from wolves, Duffy and Newhouse have said.

A Newhouse amendment to an Interior appropriations bill, HR 6147, now in conference committee between the House and Senate, also directs the Interior secretary to delist gray wolves in the 48 states. HR 6784 is another legislative path and would require delisting beyond fiscal year 2019, a Newhouse aide said.