Idaho's GOP Reps. Mike Simpson and Raul Labrador jumped into the wolf management debate this week by co-sponsoring legislation that would return wolf management authority to the states.

The proposal, introduced Wednesday by Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., would give Montana and Idaho wolf management authority. It also includes a one-page bill saying the Endangered Species Act shall not apply to gray wolves, across the board.

"The Endangered Species Act is a tool to recover a species, not a program for infinite and never-ending federal oversight," Labrador said in a statement. Simpson said he looks to the "input and advice of Idahoans" most impacted by a court decision to re-list wolves, and that their proposal reflects that input.

Idaho's Republican senators tried to push forward their own legislation to remove wolves from Endangered Species Act protections in the final hours of the 111th Congress in December. They weren't able to get unanimous consent to get the bill heard.

Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, along with Republican colleagues from Utah, Wyoming and Arizona, introduced their bill in September, as efforts to resume hunting of wolves in Idaho were blocked in federal court.