A Republican proposal pending before the U.S. Congress would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rescind its pending rule related to management of wildlife refuges. 

The Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources discussed a bill on Tuesday that would require the federal agency to end its Biological Integrity, Diversity and Environmental Health rulemaking process.

This legislation is sponsored by Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin.

At the start of the hearing on Tuesday, Ranking Member Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California, said that past debates have indicated that some of the lawmakers do not have a basic understanding of the BIDEH rule.

“It was clear in our April hearing on this subject that some members do lack a basic understanding of the BIDEH rule, including the fact, which the Fish and Wildlife Service clarified repeatedly at that hearing, that current practices such as cooperative agriculture, hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing will not be affected by this rulemaking,” Huffman said. “Some members prefer to just traffic in false claims and conspiracy theories, but those are the actual facts.”

Huffman further said that Grothman’s bill is premature because the Fish and Wildlife Services has not yet finalized the BIDEH rule.

The BIDEH rulemaking began in February and is intended to provide guidance for managing wildlife refuges in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss.

The comment period closed in May and generated hundreds of thousands of comments.

Grothman said that the BIDEH rule prioritizes policies with the “Green New Deal agenda” over local hunting and conservation strategies. He said the BIDEH rule strips local biologists of their authority and instead places final policy decisions in the hands of bureaucrats in Washington D.C. 

Grothman further argued that the BIDEH rule will restrict access and hunting opportunities on national wildlife refuges.

Steve Guertin, deputy director for program management and policy with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, spoke about BIDEH and its importance. He said the public comment period garnered more than 200,000 comments.

Guertin said the wildlife refuges are working under a framework adopted in 2001 and, since then, new conservation challenges have evolved.

“Refuge species and habitats are increasingly threatened by climate change, biodiversity loss and other stressors,” he said.

Guertin said those threats prompted the Fish and Wildlife Service to release the proposed BIDEH rule in February.

“The intent of our proposal was to provide a more consistent, transparent and science-based approach to upholding ecological integrity on individual refuges and across the refuge system,” Guertin said. “The proposal would standardize and clarify the existing processes refuge managers use to make management decisions. It does not ban any management practices nor remove refuge managers’ decision making authority or supersede the National Wildlife System Improvement Acts other mandates.”

Those other mandates include hunting, though hunting groups are among the most vocal BIDEH opponents. These groups point to language that they say will end predator control on wildlife refuges. 

The BIDEH rule documents state: “We prohibit (native) predator control unless it is determined necessary to meet statutory requirements, fulfill refuge purposes, and ensure biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health. We may implement lethal predator control only when all other feasible methods have been fully evaluated and such control is considered the only practical means of addressing a specific, significant conservation concern and ensuring biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health.”

Some hunting groups have said that BIDEH represents a shift in management strategies away from hunting.

But Guertin told lawmakers that hunting will continue on refuges and is enshrined in law.

“We do not believe the BIDEH proposal would shut down any hunting opportunities,” he said.

Another area that has led to backlash against BIDEH is cooperative agriculture, which opponents say will be limited under the proposed rule.

Huffman directly asked Guertin about this. Guertin said if the rule is finalized in its current form, it will not impact any existing cooperative agriculture programs.

Additionally, under questioning from Huffman, Guertin said BIDEH will not give the Fish and Wildlife Service any authority to ignore the role of states in making decisions regarding managing wildlife.

Guertin said that the BIDEH rule was drafted in consultation with state and tribal fish and wildlife management agencies. He said the Fish and Wildlife Service did not consult other outside agencies such as advocacy groups focused on animal rights or hunting.

While hunting groups have expressed opposition to the rule, many animal rights groups including the Humane Society of the United States support the rule.

Within hours of the rulemaking being announced in February, the Humane Society issued a press release praising it. On its website, the Humane Society states that the BIDEH rule would end the “senseless slaughter” of native predators on wildlife refuges.

Rep. Harreit Hagerman, R-Wyoming, argued that the BIDEH rule creates a “default position for the National Wildlife Refuge System by prohibiting certain practices unless the refuge managers conduct a full-blown NEPA analysis.”

“Refuge managers will be required to complete an analysis to justify utilizing existing management practices that are necessary to meet statutory responsibilities and to maintain the health of the environment,” she said.

She asked how prohibiting predator control, the use of genetically-modified crops and the utilization of pesticides provides greater flexibility for refuge managers.

Guertin said Hagerman was referring to the default language in the bill that states those actions are prohibited unless “we do our homework, we do the science, we show our work.”

“We believe that many of those practices, particularly agriculture, will continue because they are used to mimic a lot of natural functions,” he said.

Furthermore, he said the BIDEH proposal does not require a full-blown National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, analysis.