Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman have introduced a bill to change the Endangered Species Act. They aren’t looking to change the actual act yet, just the name given the monumental legislation more than 50 years ago.

The two elected leaders introduced the Endangered Species Recovery Act, legislation that would rename the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to “better reflect the law’s original intent,” according to the bill’s authors.

“Washington bureaucrats have lost sight of the original mission of the Endangered Species Act,” Sen. Lummis said in a release. “Instead of celebrating recovery success by removing federal intervention, they’ve created a system that keeps species listed indefinitely. The Endangered Species Recovery Act refocuses this law on its original purpose: recovering species and then getting the federal government out of the way.”

Hageman used stronger words, calling the ESA a “failed model” used for federal land control rather than to save species.

“For over 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has operated under a misleading title and a failed model, with only 3% of listed species ever delisted,” said Rep. Hageman. “This is land control, not conservation.”

Despite the fact that the bill only calls for a a name change and doesn’t suggest ways to speed up recovery or add resources to programs developed by wildlife biologists and managers to assist in recovery efforts, Hageman said the change will add accountibility to the ESA.

“By renaming it the Endangered Species Recovery Act, we are reflecting the law’s true intent, actually recovering species. This change is long overdue. With this legislation, we are putting action and accountability back into environmental policy.”

They have the support of newly appointed Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce.

“The Endangered Species Act is a remarkable law that was created to protect and recover species,” Bruce said in the release. “While this landmark act has primarily focused on species protection over the past 50 years, this revision in the name of the Act is necessary to refocus how we think about listed species and better reflect its original intent. Changing the name sets the stage for emphasizing future work on recovery. With over 1,600 species listed, now is the time to focus on actions needed for delisting. Special thanks to Sen. Lummis for her leadership on endangered species reform.”

Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) are Senate cosponsors. 

The bill has also received support from David Wilms, former adviser to Gov. Matt Mead and currently the associate vice president of public lands at the National Wildlife Federation, who said renaming the ESA is a thoughtful way to refocus national attention on what matters most — recovering imperiled wildlife.”

“This bill emphasizes outcomes over process, reinforcing that the goal isn’t to manage decline, but to return species to healthy, sustainable populations that don’t require the Act’s protections,” he said. “It’s a commonsense update that aligns the name of the law with its original purpose.”