The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would remove gray wolves from the endangered species list across the lower 48 states, effectively ending federal protection for the animals.
The bill, authored by Republicans, received support from a small number of Democrats.
It will now move to the Senate, but its chances of becoming law appear slim, as the White House has already expressed opposition to the measure.
The vote comes amidst an ongoing national debate about the future of gray wolves. Hunters and farmers argue that the species has recovered and have voiced concerns about wolf attacks on game animals and livestock, advocating for the right to legally kill the wolves.
Conversely, conservationists maintain that the population remains vulnerable, having been hunted to near-extinction by the 1960s.
In 2011, Congress removed Endangered Species Act protection for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains, and the Trump administration extended this removal across the rest of the continental U.S. in 2020. However, a federal judge blocked the change, except in the northern Rocky Mountains region.
In February, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected requests from conservation groups to restore protections in the six-state Rockies region, allowing state-sponsored wolf hunts to continue in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The agency estimated the wolf population in the region at nearly 3,000 animals at the end of 2022.
Republicans argue that the successful recovery of gray wolves should be celebrated as a conservation triumph, while Democrats counter that the species still requires protection, warning that lifting safeguards could lead to wolves being hunted to near extinction once again.
The bill passed the House with a vote of 209-205, with four Democrats joining Republicans in support of the measure.
However, the White House has stated that Congress should not determine whether a species has recovered, indicating that the bill is unlikely to become law even if it passes the Senate.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.