Enhancing Safety for Animals Act of 2025

Summary

On September 3, 2025, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held a legislative hearing on five bills addressing water infrastructure, fisheries, and wildlife management. H.R. 2073, the Defending our Dams Act, prohibits federal funds from being used to breach or study the breach of the Lower Snake River dams. H.R. 3692 reauthorizes appropriations of $2 million annually through 2031 for the Young Fishermen's Development program, which provides training and business development support for new entrants to the commercial fishing industry. H.R. 4255 would remove the Mexican wolf from the lists of threatened and endangered species. H.R. 4256 reauthorizes the Digital Coast program, which makes geospatial data, decision-support tools, training, and best practices regarding coastal area management available on a public website. H.R. 4970 would allow the sale of water in excess of the Orland Project's needs to the Sacramento Canals Unit of the Central Valley Project.\n\nWitnesses included Tom Paterson, President-Elect of the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, who testified in support of the Mexican wolf delisting bill; Clark Mather, Executive Director of Northwest RiverPartners, who testified on the dams bill; and Dustin Sherer, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of the Interior. The bills reflected competing priorities: ranching and agricultural groups supported the Mexican wolf delisting, while

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Witnesses(21)

Summary

On January 22, 2026, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a full committee markup to consider eight bills spanning diverse natural resources and public lands issues. The bills included measures addressing tribal land homeownership and jurisdictional clarity, invasive species management in the Chesapeake Bay, ocean recreation data standardization, national park recovery, and wildlife safety. Among the bills marked up were H.R. 5254 (Gateway Partnership Act), which would authorize the Gateway Arch Park Foundation to host private events at Gateway Arch National Park; H.R. 5729 (North Rim Restoration Act), which would expedite recovery of the Grand Canyon's North Rim from the Dragon Bravo Fire by granting the National Park Service emergency contracting authority; H.R. 3073 (Shivwits Band of Paiutes Jurisdictional Clarity Act), which would confer jurisdiction to Utah over certain civil cases involving the Shivwits Band of Paiutes and allow the tribe to lease its trust lands; and H.R. 4294 (MAWS Act), which would establish a pilot program to purchase invasive blue catfish from Chesapeake Bay watermen for use in pet and animal feed industries. The committee also considered H.R. 3340 (Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans Act), which would standardize and digitize data on recreational fishing restrictions and boating access in federal waters. Additional bills on the agenda addressed tribal trust land homeownership, animal safety, and emergency egress at a Virginia facility. As a markup session, the committee was reviewing and potentially amending these bills before deciding whether to advance them for further consideration by the full House.

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