Governor Gordon Calls for Modernization of Federal Endangered Species Act

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon was in Washington D.C. Wednesday working with U.S. Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming to update and modernize the federal endangered species act. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

Governor Gordon testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The hearing focused on the Endangered Species Act Amendments of 2020. Gordon said that he believes the Endangered Species Act is broken, and there is no scientific reason it shouldn’t be fixed.

Governor Gordon during his testimony, expressed strong support for allowing states and tribes to continue and expand their work on conserving imperiled species, emphasizing the damaging impact excessive litigation has had on those efforts.

During his testimony, the Governor outlined Wyoming’s leadership on efforts to protect several species, including the grizzly bear, gray wolves, black-footed ferrets and the greater sage-grouse. He noted that Wyoming’s state-led core area strategy to conserve greater sage-grouse populations was copied by other states, has been effective at preventing listing, and has allowed multiple-use activities to continue.