Brian Nesvik Survives 10-9 Committee Vote To Be Next U.S. Fish & Wildlife Chief

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Grizzly bears can’t get taken off the endangered species list fast enough for those pushing for it, and Wyomingite Brian Nesvik might be key to finally making that happen, U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis said Wednesday.

The Wyoming Republican is on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, making her comments as the panel voted along party lines 10-9 in favor of Nesvik’s nomination to head the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“For 20 years we’ve been trying to get the grizzly bear delisted,” Lummis said at Wednesday’s meeting. “I am hopeful that Brian Nesvik will pursue this course of action.”

EPW’s strictly party-line vote sends the nomination to the full Senate for final confirmation at a date not yet scheduled. With the GOP holding a 53-47 edge in the chamber, final approval is not in doubt.

‘Charismatic Megafauna’

Environmental protectionists see the grizzly bear as “charismatic megafauna that they can use to raise money for their groups,” Lummis said at the Wednesday meeting.

“They won’t let them off the list,” she said.

According to Lummis, the Greater Yellow Ecosystem grizzly bear has fully recovered, and therefore delisting is consistent with the “intent and letter” of the Endangered Species Act.

Delisting of the animal is also a priority for Wyoming’s other two members of Congress, U.S. Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso and U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman.

The bear is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Razor-Thin Vote For Nesvik

Nesvik had a long career with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, ascending to the agency’s top post. He is also a decorated military veteran with many years of service in the Wyoming National Guard, retiring as a brigadier general.

He sailed through the Senate EPW Committee’s March 26 confirmation hearing, with few concerns raised by Democrats. But his nomination made it out of the committee Wednesday by only the narrowest of margins.

“I liked him, and I’m impressed by his military service,” U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, said at Wednesday’s EPW meeting. “But his clear prioritization of agricultural and fossil fuel interests over fish and wildlife protection is, in my view, very contrary to the very purpose of the Fish and Wildlife Service.”

‘Hostility’ Toward California

Another committee Democrat, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said he appreciated Nesvik’s “candor during his confirmation hearing, and in particular his willingness to roll up his sleeves to work with me on the gritty, complex details [of] California water management.”

But that isn’t good enough, Padilla said, because of a general “hostility” that President Donald Trump’sadministration has shown to California. For that reason, Padilla said he looks with disfavor upon all of Trump’s nominations for environment-related posts.

“I just need to cite the approaches and the actions that the administration has taken, continues to take, demonstrating their hostility to the state of California,” Padilla said. “Until that changes, it’s going to be hard to support nominees for these key positions.”

‘Could Not Be More Qualified'

Lummis’ office put out a statement after the vote lauding Nesvik.

“Brian Nesvik will do an amazing job leading the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” Lummis said in the statement. “I’m pleased to see his nomination move quickly out of Senate EPW and I urge my colleagues to swiftly confirm Brian as the next director of the USFWS."

At the March 26 hearing, Barrasso and Wyoming Republican Gov. Mark Gordon introduced Nesvik. 

“Brian could not be more qualified, and suited, to serve in this important and pivotal role,” the governor said at that hearing.

Intermountain West Joint Venture

Also at the time of the March hearing, Hageman told Cowboy State Daily she looks forward to working closely with Nesvik. She serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, chairing the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.

“I have appreciated working with Brian Nesvik for years on a variety of wildlife issues,” she said. “He brings decades of experience and a deep understanding of what truly works at the local level.”

She applauded his service in a group called Intermountain West Joint Venture, which aims “to foster the public-private partnerships the Fish and Wildlife Service needs to succeed.”

Added Hageman: “As one of the strongest advocates for delisting the grizzly bear, he’ll continue to be a voice for Wyoming and the West in Washington.”

‘Pro-Polluter Agenda’

If confirmed by the full Senate to head the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nesvik would report to Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum, an advocate for mining and drilling on federal lands to boost oil, gas, coal and uranium production.

National environmental advocacy group Sierra Club issued a statement in March opposing Nesvik, saying Trump’s administration has a “pro-polluter agenda” with “no interest in protecting wildlife.” 

During Nesvik’s tenure leading Wyoming Game and Fish, the agency took heat for its handling of chronic wasting disease — which afflicts, deer, elk and moose — as well as its response to a much-publicized torture-killing of a wolf. 

But overall, Nesvik’s long career at Wyoming Game and Fish has not been marked by unusual controversies.

Sean Barry can be reached at sean@cowboystatedaily.com.