Hunt Continues Despite Public Opposition, Concerns Over California’s Lone Wolf
SAN FRANCISCO— The Animal Welfare Institute, Project Coyote and Center for Biological Diversity are seeking an immediate investigation of Modoc County Sheriff Mike Poindexter for his decision to defy federal laws and advocate the violation of those laws during this weekend’s Coyote Drive 13, a coyote-killing contest in and near Modoc County.
A letter to the editor of the Modoc County Recorder on Feb. 7 by Sheriff Poindexter said he won’t “tolerate any restriction of legal hunting on our public lands” despite federal laws prohibiting or regulating coyote hunting on federal lands in and near Modoc County. He also recommended that any hunt participant who is questioned or detained by federal enforcement officials for illegally hunting on federal lands to “cooperate but stand their ground and call the Sheriff’s Office” and that sheriff deputies “absolutely will not tolerate any infringement upon your liberties pertaining to accessing or legally hunting on your public lands.”
“Despite claiming to uphold the U.S. Constitution, Sheriff Poindexter has decided he will not enforce and is encouraging others to flout those federal laws which he opposes,” said D.J. Schubert, wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute. “This is a blatant breach of his duty as a law enforcement officer and a violation of the Law Enforcement Code of ethics.”
The groups have contacted the district attorney for Modoc County, the California Attorney General’s office, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California and a number of state and federal agencies advising them of Sheriff Poindexter’s comments and asking for urgent intervention.
“These laws are on the books to protect our public lands and the wildlife that live there. Not only does this coyote hunt put OR-7 and other wolves at risk, but now it’s also shaping up to be some kind of Wild West misadventure where the sheriff is thumbing his nose at federal laws,” said Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf organizer at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Poindexter’s statement comes in the wake of public outcry that generated more than 20,000 letters, emails, and petition signatures into the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Fish and Game Commission calling for an end to Coyote Drive 2013 and a top-to-bottom evaluation of the state’s approach to managing predators in California.
“Given the serious potential for violations of state and federal laws barring predator hunting on public lands, the threat this hunt poses to OR-7 and any un-collared wolves in the area, and the public’s clear opposition to this killing contest, the state should take immediate action to call off Coyote Drive 2013 now,” said Camilla Fox, Project Coyote executive director and a wildlife consultant to the Animal Welfare Institute.
#
Project Coyote promotes educated coexistence between people and coyotes by championing progressive management policies that reduce human-coyote conflict, supporting innovative scientific research, and by fostering respect for and understanding of America’s native wild “song dog.”http://www.projectcoyote.org/
The Animal Welfare Institute is dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people. AWI engages policymakers, scientists, industry and the public to achieve better treatment of animals everywhere — in the laboratory, on the farm, in commerce,at home, and in the wild. http://awionline.org
TheCenter for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 450,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
The rally was a tremendous success!! Between 80 and 100 people attended, with many wonderful speakers. Bella the Husky, who lost her leg to a trap brought a tear to everyone’s eye. Thanks to everyone who attended. This was the largest wolf rally crowd by far!!
Please keep our beloved wolves in your thoughts and prayers, the wolf hunt in Idaho started yesterday and Montana’s wolf /witch hunt begins September 1, 2012 with wolf archery. Wolf families will be arrowed to death by black-hearted trophy hunters, who take pleasure in killing innocent animals.
===
“Wolves Belong: Stop the Slaughter”
Rally & Memorial set for Thursday, August 30 in
Coeur d’Alene’s Fort Sherman/City Park, 3:30 to 7:30pm Pacific time
For Immediate Release
August 22, 2012 Contacts: Catherine Feher , Predator Defense Brett Haverstick, Friends of the Clearwater Ann Sydow, Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance
COEUR D’ALENE, ID. — A rally honoring the 379 wolves killed in Idaho, during the 2011-2012 wolf hunt, is set for Thursday August 30, 3:30 – 7:30pm at Fort Sherman/Coeur d’Alene City Park. The rally will feature live music, guest speakers, a ceremony honoring wolves killed, information tables, and a trap-release workshop put on by Footloose Montana, aimed at educating citizens on how to identify traps/snares, and if necessary, how to release a pet from a trap.
Over 500 wolves have been killed in Idaho/Montana since the species was delisted via legislative rider from the Endangered Species List in 2011. The 2012-2013 wolf hunt on public lands in Idaho begins the same day of the rally. Hunting on private lands in the Panhandle region of Idaho has been occurring since July 1, making it a year ‘round hunt in some areas.
“It’s time to end fairy tale fantasies. Science clearly shows that healthy populations of wolves and other predator species are critical for a healthy environment,” said Brooks Fahy, Executive Director of Predator Defense. “The shooting, trapping, snaring and torture of wolves must stop. The slaughter of wolves in Idaho is being driven by a fanatical blood lust that has no place in modern wildlife management.”
Many conservationists in the Northern Rockies feel that the Obama administration has failed in their duties to protect the iconic species.
“Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar has utterly failed in his duties to keep federally endangered species like wolves from the blood-thirsty hands of our state fish and game agencies. What is happening in Idaho and Montana is about to happen in Wyoming. A lack of federal leadership and foresight is leading to a killing floor for wolves”, said Brett Haverstick, Education & Outreach Director for Friends of the Clearwater.
According to the 2011 Idaho Wolf Monitoring Progress report issued by Idaho Fish & Game and the Nez Perce tribe, there were 746 wolves in the state of Idaho last December.
“Of the 379 wolves killed in last year’s hunt, 40 were puppies, 56 suffered in leg-hold traps before being killed, and another 67 choked to death in snares,” said Ann Sydow with the Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance (NIWA). “Special interest groups refuse to share their hunting grounds and their grazing allotments, even in publicly owned National Forests.”
Predator Defense, Friends of the Clearwater, Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance, Kootenai Environmental Alliance, Footloose Montana and Center for Biological
Diversity are co-sponsoring the event.
Eleven member wolf pack in winter, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (2001)
For Immediate Release, April 30, 2012
CHEYENNE, Wyo.— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceannounced todaythat Wyoming has passed legislation and an amendment to its wolf-management plan that will meet federal approval and trigger removal of Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the state.
The new law and plan — to take effect later this year when wolves are removed from the federal endangered species list — increase the area of Wyoming where wolves would be designated “predators” and could be killed without limit; they also keep in place a “trophy game management area,” where hunting will be allowed to dramatically reduce wolf populations.
“ Wyoming ’s wolf-management plan is a recipe for wolf slaughter that will only serve to incite more of the prejudice against wolves that led to their destruction in the first place,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, which has been working for two decades to save and recover wolves throughout the West. “Removal of federal protections for wolves has been a disaster in Idaho and Montana and will be even worse in Wyoming .”
While wolves would remain fully protected within Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, elsewhere in Wyoming they would be subject to shooting, trapping and snaring, including 83 percent of the state where they will be considered “predators” and there will be no limits on their killing. The remaining portion of the state would be considered a “trophy game management area,” where killing wolves would be permitted, with the goal of reducing the population from approximately 29 packs to around 10.
“Along with the killing of wolves in Idaho and Montana , which had their protection taken away last year through a back-door congressional rider, this planned persecution of wolves in Wyoming could be devastating to the beautiful animals’ survival in the northern Rocky Mountains ,” said Robinson. “Killing most of Wyoming ’s wolves will hurt wolves in Colorado , too, where they’re only starting to return by way of Wyoming .”
Since wolf hunting and trapping seasons opened last fall, 378 wolves have been killed in Idaho , which has no cap on killing and several ongoing open seasons. An additional 166 wolves were killed in Montana , which has now closed its season. Contrary to promises, hunting and trapping have appeared to inflame anti-wolf sentiment, with comments and pictures appearing on the Internet that boast of wolf killing and call for more slaughter.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has reopened a two-week comment period, during which feedback is sought from the public before the agency finalizes the delisting rule.
Background
In October 2011 the Obama administration announced finalization of an agreement between the Fish and Wildlife Service and Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead whereby the agency would remove wolves in Wyoming from the federal endangered species list and the state would only be required to keep alive 100 wolves or 10 breeding pairs outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks (which together provide habitat for a few dozen wolves that would remain protected while in the parks).
After pups are born within the next few weeks, it is likely that more than 500 wolves will live outside the national parks in Wyoming . The state plan will allow their unregulated killing throughout most of the state.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 350,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
There was a good showing of wolf advocates at the Idaho Commissioners meeting in Boise yesterday. Wolf supporters were represented well, with just a few anti-wolfers. People spoke of the importance of wolves to the ecosystem, the lack of representation of Idaho citizens who support and care about wolves and other wildlife. I’m very proud of each and every person who cared enough to take the time to speak out for wolves. In the end their testimony seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
The commissioners don’t appear to care what wolf advocates think. It looks like they’re going to increase the limits on how many wolves can be taken per hunter, expand trapping and generally make like as miserable as possible for Idaho wolves, who are now caught in perpetual hell.
Like:
Increase bag limit to five each for hunting and trapping in the Panhandle, Palouse-Hells Canyon, Dworshak, Lolo, Selway and Middle Fork wolf zones.
Extend season on private land in Panhandle zone.
Add trapping season in Units 19A and 25.
Increase harvest limit in Southern Mountain zone from 25 to 40.
Increase season length in Beaverhead and Island Park zones to close on January 31.
===
Update:March 22, 2012
I will update you later today on the Boise event but everything went well and there was a good turnout of wolf advocates!!
===
End the Wolf Slaughter-Speak in Boise on March 21
MARCH 19, 2012
MOSCOW, ID — Over five hundred Northern Rocky Gray Wolves have been slaughtered since Idaho and Montana declared war on wolves last fall. The hunting season for wolves in Montana closed in mid-February with 166 wolves killed. But the trapping and hunting of wolves continues in Idaho, with 362 killed so far, and certain hunting zones open until late June. Such killing zones encourage the killing of cubs in their dens. The state of Idaho has also killed wolves via aerial gunning, and was close to passing a bill that would have permitted ranchers to use “live-bait” to lure in wolves and kill them.
Science demonstrates wolves are keystone predators, and play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem health and resiliency. Since wolves returned to Yellowstone National Park over fifteen years ago, researchers have documented an increase in biodiversity, with riparian areas being restored, aspen stands regenerating, and habitat for birds, fish, and amphibians benefiting.
“The ranching industry of the West has no use for wolves or biodiversity. And a predator-free landscape is just what some outfitters in this state want,” said Ann Sydow, organizer for the Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance. “Influential outfitters want the state management agencies to do whatever it takes to artificially boost elk populations so their clients can kill them for trophies.”
Biologists note that killing apex predators does not induce elk recovery. Rather, large-scale killing of predators usually has detrimental effects on the entire system. While wolves generally take the old, sick, and weak, trophy hunters can kill elk important for breeding.
The American people have invested hundreds of millions of tax dollars in species recovery since the US Fish & Wildlife Service reintroduced Grey Wolves in the Northern Rockies in 1995. Members of the public will speak at the Idaho Fish & Game Commissioner’s meeting in Boise on March 21st 600 South Walnut, at 7pm.
“I am an American taxpayer and Idaho resident who is fed up with this deliberate extermination of an icon of wilderness–and an animal sacred to many indigenous peoples,” said Dr. Catherine Feher-Elston, an environmental historian, author, and wildlife rehabilitator. “The states of Montana and Idaho are destroying America’s investment and subverting the will of the people.”
A lawsuit challenging the Congressional budget-rider that delisted wolves from federal endangered species protection last year has yet to regain federal protections for the iconic species.
“The federal government needs to step in and relist the Gray Wolf. It is abundantly clear that states like Idaho cannot manage wolves responsibly, “said Brett Haverstick, Education & Outreach Director for Friends of the Clearwater, a plaintiff on the lawsuit. “Killing half the wolf population is not managing.”
===
Region-wide pro wolf rally in Boise, Wednesday March 21st. This is an important opportunity for us to speak out against the brutal slaughter of gray wolves. The public rally will occur at 5pm outside of the Idaho Fish & Game headquarters, which is located at 600 South Walnut. If you cannot attend the rally, the Fish & Game Commissioner’s are accepting public comments starting at 7pm in the “Trophy Room” of the building.
===
Photo: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Posted in: Wolf Wars, Action Alert, Activism
Tags: Friends of the Clearwater, Boise, Idaho Commissioners Meeting, speak out for wolves
The vote will be held today in BOTH the Wisconsin Senate and House. Please continue to call and express your outrage over both awful bills. Thanks so much for your efforts, I know it’s hard to be deluged with bad news all the time but we must keep trying for the wolves, we can’t abandon them!
===
Update: March 5, 2012
Lets get busy today and contact as many Wisconsin Senators and Representatives as possible. The Assembly vote is tomorrow, March 6, 2012. We can do this. Don’t forget to sign the Care2 Petition included in this post. Lets go Warriors!!
===
Wisconsin wolves need your help and quick! Two horrible wolf hunting bills are moving with lightning speed through the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly (House of Representatives). They would allow wolves to be hunted down by dogs, hunted at night, clubbed to death in traps and much more. This has to be stopped.
The Assembly bill is up for a vote on Tuesday, March 6, 2012.
Please contact members of the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly and the sponsors of these bills. Their contact information is included in this post. If you are out-of-state let them know you will not step one foot in Wisconsin or spend a dime there if these barbaric bills are passed. If you are a Wisconsin resident tell them you will make it your mission to vote any Senator or Representative out of office if they support these bills. We have the numbers on our side, we are the majority!!
*Here is what Gaylord Yost, retired from 34 years of forestry service in Wisconsin had to say about AB502 and SB411 :*
** “One of the most absurd pieces of legislation ever put forth by extremists in the legislature is now moving through the legislative process – AB 502.This bill provides not only threatens human safety but is full of the most barbaric inhumane treatment of a wildlife population ever written into proposed law. People who countenance this sort of treatment of animals ought to be subject to the law themselves and imprisoned for inhumane treatment of animals. *There are 5.6 million people in Wisconsin, 3.4 million cattle, 1 million deer, and 800 wolves. If you listen to the gun-toting minority of hunters in this state, one would think that these wolves are threatening the very existence of humanity. *While thousands of people get killed every year by automobile and thousands by gun fire, the 800 wolves present a wonderful target for testosterone filled males who love guns and get off by killing some wild animal. This law is nothing more than one more SUPERPAC hunter/trapper move to dominate our wildlife management.
Please vote NO to this piece of trash legislation.”
===
Americans loves wolves. The coordinated nationwide attack on them is unconscionable and unprecedented. Stand up for Wisconsin’s wolves, time is of the essence!!
===
Paul C., an outraged Wisconsin wildlife advocate, explains the dire situation wolves are facing in Wisconsin.
There is an urgent crisis in Wisconsin that needs immediate attention. The horror and brutality that we are witnessing in the Northern Rockies is about to be played out in Wisconsin through even more cruel methods. On January 27th, the same day the gray wolf was officially removed from the Endangered Species List in Wisconsin, Minnesota,and Michigan, RepresentativeScott Suder(R) introduced a bill into the Wisconsin Assembly:
The bill, AB 502, would institute a wolf “harvesting” season in Wisconsin that would start on October 15th and end the last day of February, four and a half months. The extreme length of this season is not even the most disturbing element of this bill. The bill authorizes wolves to be hunted by packs of dogs, at night, from and across roads, trapped, baited, and killed by any weapon imaginable. Not surprisingly this bill is being supported by a large number of nefarious hunting groups, including The Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, Safari Club International, and the NRA among others. If this bill passes bear/wolf hounders will be able to run their dogs through the Wisconsin woods terrorizing our wildlife for EIGHT MONTHS of the year. Trappers will also be allowed to trap wolves through the use of any type of trap and kill trapped wolves by any method imaginable, including bashing in their skulls while they cower in terror, in the same manner baby seals in Canada are killed.
This bill and its companion in the Wisconsin Senate, SB 411, have both been passed by their respective committees. They now move on to floor votes. The speed in which these bills are being moved forward is especially alarming. The Assembly public hearing was announced to the general public only one day before it occurred. It was voted on last week and passed 13 to 1. The Senate public hearing occurred on Tuesday the 28th and the bill was voted on in the committee today. It passed 5 to 2. It may be too late to defeat this bill, but we need to try. If Wisconsin is allowed to carry out this extreme and brutal plan other states with wolves will likely follow. Our state institutions across the country have been taken over by the extremists in the hunting and trapping communities. The average citizen has no say in what happens to our wildlife. In Wisconsin we need to stand our ground and show them that we the people, do not approve of this.
The following is the statement I submitted to the Senate Natural Resources Committee in opposition to this bill….Paul C.
This statement is to register my opposition towards SB 411, as a concerned citizen of the State of Wisconsin.
On January 27, 2012 management of the gray wolf was officially turned over to the State of Wisconsin. This event happened through the hard work and dedication of those who devoted their time and energy to bring this majestic animal back from a successful extermination campaign in the 19th and 20th centuries. This return should be celebrated. However, within hours of the official delisting announcement a bill was introduced by Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford), AB502, which would establish a wolf “harvesting” season in Wisconsin. This bill proposes a path to a second extermination in the most brutal ways possible. In a Wisconsin State Journal article, dated February 1, 2012, Rep. Suder makes it clear that his goal is to reduce the wolf population to 350 from an estimated number of 800. He repeated the same statement on Wisconsin Public Radio the next day. What is even more disturbing are the provisions contained within SB 411/AB 502 that allow for a four and a half month hunting season, use of dogs, trapping, electronic calls, bait, shooting from and across roads, and the continued reimbursement for bear hunters whose dogs are killed by wolves.
The gray wolf is a valued species among a vast swath of our state’s citizens, yet these bills appear to have been written for a very narrow segment of the population. Hunters and trappers are a small segment of the population in this country. People who hunt with dogs are an even smaller minority within the overall population of citizens and hunters. Why was their input valued more than the rest of state citizens? The authors of this bill sought the input of the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, Safari Club International, and other like-minded groups. These groups represent a minority of Wisconsin citizens, yet many of the provisions in this bill appear to have been written on their behalf, especially the provisions to hunt with dogs, and at night. Where is the input from the citizens that value the gray wolf as more than a moving target to be shot, trapped, or ripped to shreds by a pack of dogs? In the February 2nd interview on Wisconsin Public Radio, Rep. Suder called hunting with dogs a “tradition” in Wisconsin. The reality is that this is only a “tradition” for a very tiny segment of the population, not the vast majority of state citizens including other hunters. In fact, recent surveys by the University of Wisconsin show that the vast majority of Wisconsin citizens oppose the hunting of wolves by dogs. This provision and many others in this bill are horrendous and do nothing but put Wisconsin in a bad light.
To allow a species that was considered endangered less than a month ago to be hunted through the most barbaric methods possible is not only concerning, but shameful. It is also shameful to justify this bill as anything other than a twisted method of “payback” against a species that a vast number of Wisconsin citizens cherish. There are already mechanisms in place to allow the state to deal with depredating wolves and packs. The real intent of this bill seems to be only providing another species to be hunted for “recreational” purposes, in the most brutal ways possible.
Wolves are not killing all of the deer, and they are not going to eat your children. Do we really need to be reminded again that Little Red Riding Hood is fiction? Using fear mongering tactics and pandering to special interests is no way for wildlife to be managed in our state. This bill and the provisions contained within should be rejected. Paul C.
Please contact the “authors” and sponsors of this bill and let them know what you think of it. The Assembly is completely controlled by the GOP and the bill will pass easily. It is the state senators who should be contacted to express outrage against this bill, and ask them to vote against it. The following is a link to the legislators:
Time is running short and we need all of the help that we can get. This bill not only affects Wisconsin’s wolves but the fate of wolves all over the United States. It must be stopped!
===
Patricia Randolph’s Madravenspeak: Defenseless wolves urgently need howl of public support
“I was like, Yes! Fear the wrath of man! I got a rush. I was showing the animal that I’m better, more powerful, and able to control their existence.”— anonymous hunter
AB 502, the wolf kill bill, recently passed the Assembly Natural Resources committee 13-1, with Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, the only panel member to vote against it. On Thursday, the Senate Natural Resources Committee passed the companion bill, SB 411, by 5-2. The bill is now scheduled for Assembly action on Tuesday, March 6.
The Senate hearing on companion bill SB 411 was held Feb. 28. Most of the senators were absent for most of the six-hour hearing. Testimony was equally split pro and con. However, thespecial interest groupsexpressed a great fondness for the outdated, 20-year-old plan for reducing wolf numbers to 350.
AB 502 and SB 411 promote steel jaw traps and cable restraints, night hunting from roads and shining lights to confuse the wolves. Bait and lures. They expand hounding from cruelty to bears to include wolves (and all wildlife) 24/7 for 135 days and nights — eight months of mayhem. This gives no rest to the animals or citizens trespassed upon. Michael Vick went to prison for running a dog-fighting operation. These bills are dog and wolf bloodlust on steroids.
Bear hunters have been compensated from the Wolf License Plate Funds an average of $2,400/dog, for dogs killed when they terrorized our wildlife. If this bill goes through, wolf killers will feed at the public trough again when the dogs they pit against wolves are killed.
Richard Thiel, a DNR wildlife biologist for 34 years, created and managed the wolf recovery plan for much of 1980-2011. He urged restraint and the postponing of a wolf hunt for at least a few years. There is a plan in place for “problem wolves” who prey on livestock.
The feds say a conservative estimate of annual illegal kill in Wisconsin is 100 wolves — or 12 percent of the 690-800 wolves now here. The prudent approach would be to implement the current DNR plan for a few years, then reassess.
Adrian Treves, associate professor in UW’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and head of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab, is co-author of an article titled “Rescuing Wolves From Politics: Wildlife as a Public Trust Resource.” He testified that the bill as written could affect the long-term health of the state’s gray wolf population. He said the bills propose untested methods over a very long season in too broad an area and legislate management decisions without the input of technical and scientific experts.
“The evidence simply isn’t there to indicate that hunting wolves would affect depredations of domestic animals,” he said.
Although hunters tout themselves as conservationists, Treves’ surveys in Wisconsin reveal hunter attitudes toward wolves that arelargely inconsistent with stewardship. That is in line with many of the comments on wolf-hunting websites like “note to self … bring exploding broadheads!”
Warning disturbing video
Bear hunters claim they wrote these bills with seven lawyers. They apparently see the Gov. Scott Walker regime as opportunity to expand their cruelty addiction beyond bear cubs to wolves and their families.
Posted in: Wolf Wars, Wisconsin Wolves, Animal Cruelty, Action Alerts
Tags: Wisconsin wolf hunt, hunting wolves with dogs, clubbing wolves in traps, Defeat Senate Bill 411, Defeat Assembly Bill 502, TAKE ACTION NOW, Scott Suder
Over the last month, thousands of Oregonians have spoken out against hysterical anti-wildlife measures in Salem. Thanks to overwhelming public opposition, the worst of the worst have been defeated. But dirty last-minute tricks by livestock industry lobbyists threaten to put wolves back in the crosshairs.
In just a few minutes, the legislature will vote on yet another tax break for the livestock industry. As bad as that sounds, that’s not enough for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association. They also want dead wolves.
There’s an old trick used by Salem lobbyists that allows bad bills to go through in the waning hours of the legislative session and avoid public scrutiny. It’s called gut and stuff. Until the session officially ends, it’s a very real threat, and it works like this: find a friendly legislator, get them to take language from an unpopular or otherwise dead bill and stuff it into a more benign bill that’s likely to pass. Done right, by the time anyone notices, it’s too late.
We learned late last night that OCA lobbyists are working furiously to broker a last second deal that would do just that and – stop me if you’ve heard this already – declare a state of emergency, circumvent the Endangered Species Act, and fast track the killing of endangered gray wolves.
It’s the same legislation you helped kill in the Senate earlier this week. I was hoping this morning’s e-mail would be a celebration of that victory, but rather than accept defeat, this dirty trick by the OCA is a credible threat to give life to a bill radically out of step with Oregon values.
PS – Hopefully we’ll be able to send out that victory e-mail soon and get back to talking about the good news about Oregon’s wolves. We’ll be sure to keep you in the loop if the threat grows, butplease take action one more time so that good news will be possible. Non-Oregonians can call the Governor’s office at 503.378.4582.
Idaho Senate Bill S1305 passed committee and will go to the Senate for a vote as early February 29, 2012. This bill allows for slaughter of wolves found molesting livestock by any means. It specifically allows for baiting wolves with live animals. State Senator Jeff Siddoway said “even dogs” could be used as bait.
Using any sentient being as bait to kill another is cruel and inhumane. It causes undue stress to the bait animal and puts them in harms way to be killed by wolves before a gunman kills the wolf.
We need to go all out on this Warriors and get behind this petition. 5000 signatures are needed and I know we can do it.
Friends of the Clearwater, NIWA,Wolf Warriors and Howling for Justice are adamantly supporting this petition. The vote in the Idaho Senate can come as early as next week and then it’s on to the House. If it’s voted out of the Idaho House I have no doubt Governor Otter would sign it. If this bill becomes law it would decimate the already beleaguered Idaho wolves.
Let’s get our signing fingers out for the wolves and achieve the 5000 signatures!! Share this with everyone you know!!
The wolf haters might have gone too far this time. In their eagerness to slaughter wolves it could have the opposite effect and put wolves back under the protection of the ESA. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony?
Idaho State Senator Jeff Siddoway introduced bill S1305 into the statehouse this week. The bill will allow slaughter of wolves found molesting livestock, by any means. This includes shooting wolves from motorized vehicles, powered parachutes, helicopters or fixed-wing planes. Rifles, pistols, shotguns, crossbows, night scopes, electronic calls — day or night.
In Idaho, livestock consists of mainly sheep and cattle. The bill specifically includes the use of live bait. It’s not just wolves in Idahothat are in danger; any living creature could become bait if bill S1305is passed.
Warriors there will be two vigils organized by Mato W0ksape to protest the continued slaughter of wolves in Idaho. They will be held at Eastside Park, Ontario, Oregon on March 8th and March 12th.
For Immediate Release – October 17, 2011
CONTACT: Mike Garrity, Executive Director, Alliance for the Wild Rockies 406-459-5936
Emergency Injunction sought to stop Montana-Idaho wolf hunts
“Seventeen wolves have already been killed during Montana’s early archery wolf-hunting season and sixty wolves in Idaho’s wolf hunting season,” said Mike Garrity, Executive Director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. “But with the general wolf rifle season opening in Montana and Idaho around the same time the general big game rifle season is also opening, the numbers of humans with rifles in wolf habitat is about to increase exponentially. This translates into a much higher chance of wolf-human interactions as well as a much more efficient mechanism available to kill wolves during those encounters. The only way to stop this senseless, politically-driven wolf slaughter is to seek an Emergency Injunction from the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to stop wolf hunts.”
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater, and WildEarth Guardians filed their request Monday, October 17, just days before Montana’s statewide big game rifle hunting season opens. “The science and national attention are turning against the recreational killing of wolves,” Garrity explained. “Nationally, people are already suggesting boycotting Montana and Idaho’s important tourism industry, which is a top revenue producer for both states. Newly-released studies are highly critical of the states’ wolf population estimates. Add in the fact that wolves only accounted for a tiny fraction of livestock losses in Montana, and the wolf hunts are exposed for what they are, which is a politically-driven ruse.”
Idaho has already issued 25,500 wolf hunting permits, and Montana has issued 11,400. “Nearly 37,000 humans armed with high-powered rifles and long-range scopes will now be trying to kill the approximately 1000 wolves remaining in Montana and Idaho,” Garrity added. “Our only option is to seek an immediate halt to what we believe is the illegal killing of wolves, which is an endangered species we’re trying to recover in the Northern Rockies.”
“Not only is the science bogus, we also believe that Congress violated the U.S. Constitution when Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) used a rider on an unrelated appropriation bill to overturn the Federal Court’s decision that wolves should remain protected by the Endangered Species Act,” Garrity added. “In the 37-year history of the Endangered Species Act, this is the first time an endangered species has been removed from protection by Congressional fiat.”
Pointing to a strongly-worded decision recently issued by Montana Federal District Judge Donald Molloy, Garrity explained that “although ruling that he was bound by previous decisions by the Ninth Circuit Court, Judge Molloy was very direct in his opinion on the use of non-related riders on appropriation bills such as used by Senator Tester. Not only did Tester circumvent the Endangered Species Act for pure political expediency, we believe that he also violated the Separation of Powers upon which our government is founded by exempting his rider from judicial review.”
As an example, Garrity offered the following quotes directly from Molloy’s decision:
• “Inserting environmental policy changes into appropriations bills may be politically expedient, but it transgresses the process envisioned by the Constitution by avoiding the very debate on issues of political importance said to provide legitimacy. Policy changes of questionable political viability, such as occurred here, can be forced using insider tactics without debate by attaching riders to legislation that must be passed.“
• “Political decisions derive their legitimacy from the proper function of the political process within the constraints of limited government, guided by a constitutional structure that acknowledges the importance of the doctrine of Separation of Powers. That legitimacy is enhanced by a meaningful, predictable, and transparent process.”
• “If I were not constrained by which I believe is binding precedent from the Ninth Circuit, and on-point precedent from other circuits, I would hold Section 1713 [Tester’s rider] is unconstitutional because it violates the Seperation of Powers doctrine articulated by the Supreme Court in U.S. V. Klein…”
“We’re continuing the battle to stop the wolf killing because Judge Molloy’s ruling fully supports our contention that there is a well-established legal process that applies to every other species — pure political expediency should not be the driving force by which of our nation’s imperiled animals and plants will or will not be protected for future generations,” Garrity explained.
Our appeal on the constitutionality of Tester’s rider will eventually be decided before the Ninth Circuit Court,” Garrity continued. “But with the killing about to increase exponentially, we’re seeking an immediate halt to the hunts while the Court considers our case.”
The groups charge in their Emergency Motion for Injunction Pending Appeal (attached) that the delisting rider, which was sponsored by Montana’s Democrat U.S. Senator Jon Tester and Idaho’s Republican Representative Mike Simpson, violates the U.S. Constitution because it requires implementation of an agency rule that violates a court decision, but instead of changing the law that the court decision was about, it simply exempts the illegal rule from judicial review.
“While Congress absolutely has the right to make and amend laws, the wolf delisting rider (Section 1713 of the budget law, PL 112-10) does not amend the Endangered Species Act — it circumvents the judicial process and then, by exempting it from judicial review, it basically nullifies the Constitutional checks and balances between Congress and the Judicial Branch of government.”
“Even Montana’s Department of Livestock acknowledges that problems between wolves and the state’s 2.9 million domestic livestock is a localized and insignificant issue at the state level, with so few livestock affected by wolves, that justification for wolf hunting is completely inadequate, ” Garrity stated. In 2009, wolves killed 379 domestic livestock, in 2010, they killed 151, and this year only 79 so far as 2011 draws to a close. Thus, less than one percent of Montana’s livestock is affected by wolves.
“We are doing all we can to hold back the tide of wolf-killing in Montana, Idaho, and elsewhere in the Northern Rockies,” explained Garrity. “This ecologically important species is being unfairly targeted out of ignorance and intolerance and now lack a federal shield from being killed.”
“This is not just about the Endangered Species Act or wolves, it’s about the upholding the Constitution. If Congress can exempt the Tester-Simpson wolf delisting rider from judicial review, it can likewise exempt anything it does. That not only spells disaster for endangered species, but for our entire form of government. ###
PLAINTIFFS – APPELLANTS’ EMERGENCY MOTION UNDER CIRCUIT RULE 27-3(a) FOR INJUNCTION PENDING APPEAL
RELIEF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS: BEFORE NOVEMBER 7, 2011
CLICK HERERead the full Motion for Emergency Injunction
===
LA TIMES
Emergency halt to wolf hunts sought in Montana and Idaho
October 17, 2011 | 12:44 pm
Bow-and-arrow hunters already have shot 11 of Montana’s once-threatened wolf population since a controversial wolf hunt started at the beginning of September, while 60 wolves have been killed in neighboring Idaho.
Now, big game rifle-hunting season is about to start, bringing thousands of hunters into the mountains at a time when early snowfall will make wolves much easier to spot and chase. Conservation groups went to court Monday seeking an emergency injunction to block the hunts until a federal appeals court can decide whether they’re legal.
“General rifle season is about to start in Montana, it just started in Idaho. About 37,000 people now have wolf hunting permits, and they’re going to be going with high-powered rifles and long-range scopes after a little more than a thousand wolves,” Michael Garrity, executive director of Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said in an interview.
He said a coalition of groups, including Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians, are asking the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule as early as today on an emergency order, pending a hearing next month on claims that the fast-track federal legislation that authorized the hunts is illegal.
“With the snow about to fly … the very survival of Northern Rocky Mountain wolves may be at stake,” Wendy Keefover of WildEarth Guardians said in a statement.
This blog is dedicated to the memory of Wolf 253, the beloved Yellowstone Druid wolf named Limpy, who was shot and killed in March 08, on the very day ESA protections were lifted for the gray wolf, by the then Bush Administration.
Boulder White Clouds Council
Exposing The Big Game
Footloose Montana
Friends of the Clearwater
Lockwood Animal Rescue Center
Louise du Toit
LUPUSLAETUS
Mercy For Animals
Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance (NIWA)
Predator Friendly®- Because Wildlife Matters
Project Coyote
Project: Wolf
The Nature Conservancy
The Ravensong Group
WildEarth Guardians
Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic-Vote Our Wildlife
Wolf And Wildlife Studies: Jay Mallonee (Independent Wolf Biologist)
Wolf Song of Alaska
Wolves in english ! Les loups en anglais !
WWP's Gray Wolf Page
Yellowstone To Yukon Conservation Initiative
