ACTION ALERT FROM OREGON WILD: Oregon Wolves Need Your Help! Time Sensitive!

OR3 Imnaha Pack, May 10, 2011 (ODFW)

Dear Oregon Wild Supporter,

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.

Make sure last-minute back-room deals don’t threaten wolves.

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.

Time is short. The stakes are high. Oregon’s wolves need your voice one more time. Take action to make sure dirty tricks don’t give new life to bad idea.

For wolves, wildlife, and playing by the rules,

Rob Klavins
Wildlife Advocate
Oregon Wild

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, but please take action one more time so that good news will be possible. Non-Oregonians can call the Governor’s office at 503.378.4582.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1780/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1239859

Lummis Blames “Radical Environmentalists” For Rider Removal….

Apparently Cynthia Lummis isn’t happy her wolf/delisting rider was removed from the budget bill by Congress. She blames “radical environmentalists”.

“Lummis issued a statement on Friday claiming that radical environmentalists used what she called “their considerable sway in the White House” to remove the language. An attempt to reach her for comment on Friday was unsuccessful.”

Not really sure what political sway she’s talking about?  It was Obama who delisted  wolves in the Northern Rockies, mere months after he took office. It was the Senate Democrats, with help from Republicans, who voted to delist wolves via budget rider last Spring and the President signed the wolf rider/budget bill into law. We have two ongoing, brutal wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho because of that delisting and the Endangered Species Act has been weakened.

If there is any  ”sway” it  has more to do with the upcoming 2012 elections AND the wolf and wildlife advocates who burned up the Capitol phone lines this week to send a message to their Representatives.  

NO MORE WOLF DELISTING RIDERS!!

I think  Congress got the message loud and clear!

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Congress removes wolf ‘no lawsuit’ rider from bill, Lummis blames environmentalists

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/d81c55f4c76946fd9f2897dea8496d2e/WY–Wolves-Wyoming/

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Congressional negotiators shoot down no-sue clause on Wyoming wolf deal

http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/congressional-negotiators-shoot-down-no-sue-clause-on-wyoming-wolf/article_f3568f24-2806-11e1-8dd9-0019bb2963f4.html
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Congress strips wolf ‘no-lawsuit’ rider from bill

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/congress-strips-wolf-no-lawsuit-rider-from-bill/article_bac77467-57c7-5c8d-8179-df3b64565b83.html

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Congressional decision could tie up Wyoming wolf management plan in litigation

http://m.billingsgazette.com/mobile/article_b46a28f5-4039-5053-a58a-943617eef339.html

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Friday news roundup: Prosperous and in Congress

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http://www.hcn.org/hcn/blogs/goat/friday-news-roundup-wealthy-western-lawmakers

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Photo: Courtesy Ann S., Wolf People puppy, Arctica

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: Lummis wolf delisting rider, Congress, no rider in budget bill

Never Forget….

October 3, 2011

As the weekend closes 46 wolves have been slaughtered in the Montana and Idaho hunts and that number is going to skyrocket once the cold weather hits and wolves lose their cover.  Idaho wolf  trapping season begins November 15, the tortures wolves will suffer is beyond measure.  Wolf  families torn apart, their pups killed.

There are vengeful people out hunting wolves.  All you have to do is look at some of the disgusting anti-wolf sites to see the terrible things that are being said. One wanna be “wolf hunter” quoted Wyatt Earp’s famous line from Tombstone:  ”You tell ‘em I’M coming… and hell’s coming with me, you hear?…”.  Does that even sound rational to you?

There’s a video on YouTube filming a young kid talking about going to Idaho to kill wolves….meanwhile he’s target practicing with a 50 cal.  What??

  Wolf advocates knew this would happen, that’s why we fight so hard to protect them.  It’s a culture war out there and it has little to do with wolves.

Lets not forget who made this all possible. In April of this year 81 US Senators voted to delist wolves via budget rider, stripping wolves in Idaho and Montana of their much-needed ESA protections. It was a bitter betrayal by Senate Democrats.

Interestingly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, allowed separate votes on two other riders in the budget bill.  One sought to defund Planned Parenthood and the other Obamacare. Both were defeated.

Wolves weren’t so lucky. The wolf rider didn’t get a separate vote,  it was the only rider left in the budget bill.  ALL Democrat Senators, save three. voted yea. I watched it on C-Span. Lots of camaraderie and smiles.  It was disgusting.  No mention of gutting the ESA or delisting wolves.

Believe it or not,  just one week before they voted to delist wolves via budget rider “Senators Patty Murray, Dianne Feinstein, Maria Cantwell, Barbara Mikulski, Debbie Stabenow, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Kay Hagan and Barbara Boxer held a press conference” blasting Republicans, for their “tactics” during the budget negotiations.  Apparently they were upset about the budget riders to defund Planned Parenthood and Obamacare but no mention of gray wolves or the ESA.

My message to the Senators, don’t grandstand about something then turn around and do the same thing.  Pot meet kettle.

From the Democrat Daily:

“If the Democratic women in the Senate defeated the use of procedurally unethical tactics to achieve a “radical agenda against women” outside the public debate, they did not succeed in preventing Democratic Senator John Tester’s “divisive policy rider” from stripping endangered species protection from gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains. 

In response to this failure, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) lamented: “It is a shameful day for this nation when both parties unite behind the slaughter of an endangered species—without public hearing or debate.”  The NRDC also noted that “Congress has never before removed an animal from the endangered species list.  By replacing scientific judgment with political calculation, the House and Senate have struck at the very heart of wildlife protection in America.”

Thus, under threat of a government shutdown, unprincipled politicians pursued an “extreme social agenda” not just against women, but also against the environment, the Endangered Species Act, the endangered grey wolf, and all Americans who hope for a future in which the integrity of our ecosystems is still preserved.”

I guess the Senators thought they’d pulled a fast one on the American people. After all, the wolf rider was not mentioned on C-Span before the vote, at least I didn’t hear it. If you were watching you’d never know gray wolves in Montana and Idaho were about to lose their ESA safeguards. It seemed Senators were simply voting on an appropriations bill.  The sad truth?  Democrats, with help from Republicans,  were about to gut the ESA and deliver wolves to brutal state management, all under cover of  a hush-hush budget rider.

And we can’t forget Obama, he signed the bill into law. But then what can we expect from a President who appointed a rancher to head the Interior? A President who delisted gray wolves in the Northern Rockies just a few months into his first term.  In fact he has delisted wolves twice in less than four years, not even George Bush can make that claim.

Make no mistake, if the Democrats had not betrayed wolves, they wouldn’t be facing hunts in Idaho and Montana. Even though hunting and ranching lobbies were pushing hard for hunts, without the help of Congress, they wouldn’t be taking place, at least not this year.  And personally I believe they would have continued to lose in court and they knew it too.  So they partnered up with Western politicians, eager to gain mileage from “wolf wars”. The worst sort of politics.

The Senate could easily have stripped the rider out of the budget bill or allowed an up or down vote on it, as  they did for the other two riders.

 In my opinion, Senators didn’t want to “go on the record” and vote for the wolf delisting rider outright, so they tucked it away in the budget bill.  The ESA was used and abused for political gain. For the first time, a species like the wolf, who has a long history of persecution and ultimately extermination in the West, was removed from the Endangered Species List for political reasons, science be damned.

The wolf delisting rider was inserted by Jon Tester to enhance his “anti-wolf” credentials for the 2012 re-election battle with opponent Denny Rehberg. The two are trying to “out-wolf” each other and are now arguing who should get credit for delisting wolves.

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Senate Democrats Who Voted Yes On Budget Bill/Wolf Delisting Rider

Akaka (D-HI)

Baucus (D-MT)

Begich (D-AK)

Bennet (D-CO)

Bingaman (D-NM)

Blumenthal (D-CT)

Boxer (D-CA)

Brown (D-OH)

Cantwell (D-WA)

Cardin (D-MD)

Carper (D-DE)

Casey (D-PA)

Conrad (D-ND)

Coons (D-DE)

Durbin (D-IL)

Feinstein (D-CA)

Franken (D-MN)

Gillibrand (D-NY)

Hagan (D-NC)

Harkin (D-IA)

Inouye (D-HI)

Johnson (D-SD)

Kerry (D-MA)

Klobuchar (D-MN)

Kohl (D-WI)

Landrieu (D-LA)

Lautenberg (D-NJ)

Lieberman (ID-CT)

Manchin (D-WV)

McCaskill (D-MO)

Menendez (D-NJ)

Merkley (D-OR)

Mikulski (D-MD)

Murray (D-WA)

Nelson (D-FL)

Nelson (D-NE)

Pryor (D-AR)

Reed (D-RI)

Reid (D-NV)

Roberts (R-KS)

Rockefeller (D-WV)

Schumer (D-NY)

Shaheen (D-NH)

Stabenow (D-MI)

*Tester (D-MT)

Udall (D-CO)

Udall (D-NM)

Warner (D-VA)

Webb (D-VA)

Whitehouse (D-RI)

Remember these Democrat Senators at the polling booth in 2012, they need to be booted out of office. As a matter of fact every Senator who voted yes should not be invited to serve another term. We need politicians who will resist political pandering. Governing by budget rider is wrong and intolerable. Politically delisting wolves and tearing apart the ESA to please special interests is despicable. Now wolves are paying the price of that betrayal.

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Senate Democrats Who Voted No on the Budget Bill/Wolf Rider

Leahy (D-VT)

Levin (D-MI)

Wyden (D-OR)

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Senate Republicans Who Voted Yes on the Budget Bill/ Wolf Delisting Rider

Alexander (R-TN)

Ayotte (R-NH)

Barrasso (R-WY)

Blunt (R-MO)

Boozman (R-AR)

Brown (R-MA)

Burr (R-NC)

Chambliss (R-GA)

Coats (R-IN)

Cochran (R-MS)

Collins (R-ME)

Corker (R-TN)

Cornyn (R-TX)

Enzi (R-WY)

Grassley (R-IA)

Hoeven (R-ND)

Hutchison (R-TX)

Isakson (R-GA)

Johanns (R-NE)

Kirk (R-IL)

Kyl (R-AZ)

Lugar (R-IN)

McCain (R-AZ)

McConnell (R-KY)

Moran (R-KS)

Murkowski (R-AK)

Portman (R-OH)

Roberts (R-KS)

Sessions (R-AL)

Snowe (R-ME)

Thune (R-SD)

Wicker (R-MS)

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Senate Republicans Who Voted No on the Budget/Wolf Delisting Rider

Coburn (R-OK

Crapo (R-ID)

DeMint (R-SC)

Ensign (R-NV)

Graham (R-SC)

Hatch (R-UT)

Inhofe (R-OK)

Johnson (R-WI)

Lee (R-UT)

Paul (R-KY)

Risch (R-ID)

Rubio (R-FL)

Shelby (R-AL)

Toomey (R-PA)

Vitter (R-LA)

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*To be fair, I believe many of these Republicans knew the Democrats had the votes to pass the budget bill/wolf rider.  So, they were free to vote no, not because they were wolf lovers  but to make a statement about their dislike of the budget bill.  Some of the names in the no vote column are not known to be wolf advocates.  My 2 cents.

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Senate Independents Who Voted No on the Budget/Wolf Delisting Rider

Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

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This should never have happened. After eight years of George Bush the country was looking for positive change. I think the promise was “hope and change” but instead we got “more of the same.”

It’s ironic, Bill Clinton oversaw the reintroduction of wolves into the Northern Rockies and Obama is overseeing their destruction.

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Endangered Wolves Sacrificed in Budget Deal

Glenn Hurowitz

Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy

Posted: 04/11/11 04:09 PM ET

Although Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama stood firm against Republican attempts to repeal clean air and clean water protections, wolves in the Northern Rockies weren’t so lucky.

Under pressure from ranching interests in Montana and Idaho, as well as anti-wolf zealots in those states, Reid and Obama agreed to accept an amendment from Montana Democrat Jon Tester mandating the removal of grey wolves in Idaho and Montana from the endangered species list. For Obama, at least, the move isn’t surprising: his administration backed the Bush administration’s delisting of wolves even though it would allow the two massive states to cut wolf populations to as few as 450 individuals between them.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-hurowitz/endangered-wolves-sacrifi_b_847673.html

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Tester’s howling error

Congressionally delisting wolves could gut the ESA

by George Ochenski

http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/testers-howling-error/Content?oid=1428261

Photo: Courtesy National Park Service

Posted In: Wolf Wars, Howling For Justice, Endangered Species Act

Tags: wolf delisting rider, Senate Democrats , President Obama, Northern Rockies gray wolves, Idaho hunt, Montana hunt, Jon Tester, endangered species act

URGENT: TIME SENSITIVE!! TAKE ACTION FOR OREGON WOLVES NOW!!

It never ends.  If Oregon HB 3636 is signed into law by Governor Kitzhaber it would create the”Wildlife Conservation Fund”? The name is deceiving.

“The bill would create a voluntary fund for killing predators, including wolves and “fur-bearing mammals.”

Killing animals to conserve them? What fresh hell is this?

This would put Oregon’s tiny gray wolf population in extreme danger as well as other fur-bearers likes foxes, bears, raccoons, beavers and more.

From Oregon Wild:

“Rob Klavins of Oregon Wild says that rather than kill endangered wolves, “the state is required to conserve the species.” He says HB 3636 was “designed to fly under the radar” and slipped through unnoticed in the last days of the legislative session. Klavins says that it “hijacks the hunting license system.” He points out that Oregon’s 17 or so wolves already face 28 active landowner kill permits.”

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Contact Governor Kitzhaber and ask him to veto this bad bill. Let him know you are counting on him to do the right thing.

1-503-378-4582

license system.” He points out that Oregon’s 17 or so wolves already face 28 active landowner kill permits.”

You must do this by AUGUST 4th. Time is short. Do it today!! Thank you!!

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WILL GOV OK WILDLIFE KILL FUNDS?

A so-called Wildlife Conservation Fund is actually a wildlife-killing fund, according to Eugene-based Predator Defense and conservation group Oregon Wild. HB 3636 was passed unanimously by the Oregon House and by the Senate, and it awaits Gov. John Kitzhaber’s signature. The bill would create a voluntary fund for killing predators, including wolves and “fur-bearing mammals.” Oregon’s population of less than 20 gray wolves is state endangered species listed. Wolves in the western two-thirds of Oregon are also federally protected.

If Kitzhaber signs the bill into law, the fund would allow people applying for a license, tag or permit from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to make a voluntary contribution for predatory animal control within the counties that the license allows for the person to hunt.

This means the money will go to killing endangered gray wolves, as well as to lethally controlling bear, beaver, raccoons and foxes, among others. Sally Mackler of Predator Defense calls the bill “reckless” and says, “The state is spending a tremendous amount of money on killing wildlife.” Mackler says the amount of money the state spends on killing predators has doubled in the last biennium to about $840,000, but predators are responsible for very few livestock deaths.

Rob Klavins of Oregon Wild says that rather than kill endangered wolves, “the state is required to conserve the species.” He says HB 3636 was “designed to fly under the radar” and slipped through unnoticed in the last days of the legislative session. Klavins says that it “hijacks the hunting license system.” He points out that Oregon’s 17 or so wolves already face 28 active landowner kill permits.

A recent study in the journal Science says that humans’ destruction of top or apex predators like wolves causes previously unknown reverberations including changes in the landscape, increases in wildfires, pandemics and ecosystem shifts. The study called killing predators “humankind’s most pervasive influence on the natural world.”

The study gives as an example that when wolves returned to Yellowstone National Park it benefited creekside trees, and that without predators to kill deer, the populations explode with consequences such as more deer ticks to spread Lyme disease to humans.

Oregon Wild and Predator Defense are calling on Kitzhaber to veto the bill. Kitzhaber’s press secretary Christine Miles says, “The governor will review HB 3636 before making any decision on the bill.” — Camilla Mortensen

http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2011/07/21/news.html#6

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Photo: Creative Commons

Posted in: Oregon wolves, Wolf Wars

Tags: Governor Kitzhaber  Oregon wolves, bad bill HB 3636. Wildlife Conservation Fund, war on wildlife,

Wolf Numbers Declining In Northern Rockies…

ALERT FROM THE CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

For Immediate Release, March 11, 2011

As Congress Takes Aim, New Numbers Show Declining Wolf Population in Northern Rockies

SILVER CITY, N.M. — The number of gray wolves fell in 2010, according to federal records made public today, declining from an estimated 1,733 in 2009 to 1,651 last year in a population that ranges through Idaho , Montana , Wyoming , Oregon and Washington . The number of breeding pairs also declined from 115 to 111. The decline was largely due to federal trapping and aerial gunning, which killed 260 wolves during 2010.

“The decline in wolf numbers reflects heavy-handed federal management even as wolves remain on the endangered species list,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Despite the decline in numbers, some members in Congress are intent on stripping away their federal protections, even if it means doing so by attaching riders to a must-pass spending bill.”

A 19 percent decline in wolf numbers in Idaho , from 870 to 705 animals, accounted for the regional decline despite slight population growth in Montana (524 to 566) and Wyoming (320 to 343).

In Oregon and Washington , 37 wolves, including three breeding pairs, were counted in 2010, up from 19 wolves in the two states the year before.

Licensed hunters killed 48 wolves in Idaho in 2010 before Aug. 5, when U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy restored wolves to the endangered species list in a case brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and allied conservation organizations.

A rider attached to both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate versions of the continuing resolution spending bill would permanently and irrevocably remove wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains from the endangered species list. If passed, wolves would be the first endangered species to have their protections removed by politicians, as opposed to the science-based process prescribed in the Endangered Species Act.

“Removing federal protections from wolves through a rider would remove all protections for wolves and allow for even more killing,” said Robinson. “Wolf numbers are no longer going up, and there is no supposed emergency that would justify the politicization of a process that’s supposed to be based on science. Congressional wolf delisting would unleash ruthless persecution of wolf parents and their soon-to-be-born pups, and would set a precedent inviting politicians to delist other endangered species that may similarly be in the crosshairs of powerful special interests.”

CLICK HERE for more information.

Photo: Courtesy kewlwallpaper.com

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: wolf numbers declining endangered species act, wolf delisting rider

Support for Wolves and The ESA Is Strong In America, Poll Shows…

Despite the hateful rhetoric. tall tales and downright lies being spewed about wolves from the anti-wolf crowd,  a new poll shows support for wolves  and the ESA is strong in America!!

“Support for the ongoing recovery of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies came in at 78 percent, Goldman says, adding that some people might be surprised by that figure given what the public has heard and read recently.

“I think there’s a small but vocal minority that’s putting out this idea that the wolf is the enemy, and this poll shows the opposite. Americans recognize the gray wolf as part of our wildlife heritage.”

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64% to just 26% of those polled believe:

“The ESA is a safety net providing
balanced solutions to
save wildlife, plants and fish that are at risk of extinction”

while only 29% believe it’s a tool used by environmentalists

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Americans also agree by 63% to 29% that:

Decisions about whether to remove
the Endangered
Species Act’s
protections should be based on science, not politics

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TAKE NOTE OF THIS POLL US SENATE BEFORE YOU TRY TO PASS ANY WOLF DELISTING RIDERS IN THE BUDGET BILL!!

Poll Finds Strong Public Support for Endangered Species Act…and Wolves

March 11, 2011

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A new poll showing strong public support for the Endangered Species Act comes as the U.S. House of Representatives considers a stopgap federal spending plan that includes removing endangered species protection for the gray wolf.

Wolves don’t live in Connecticut but have been sighted as near as Massachusetts.

The poll also found that 92 percent of respondents felt that scientists, not politicians, should make wildlife-management decisions. Derek Goldman, spokesman for the Endangered Species Coalition, says it’s not a party-line issue.

“Across all political ideologies, Americans support the Endangered Species Act and recognize that it’s a safety net for protecting fish, plants and wildlife that are on the brink of extinction.”

The coalition paid for the poll and did similar polling six years ago with similar results.

Support for the ongoing recovery of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies came in at 78 percent, Goldman says, adding that some people might be surprised by that figure given what the public has heard and read recently.

“I think there’s a small but vocal minority that’s putting out this idea that the wolf is the enemy, and this poll shows the opposite. Americans recognize the gray wolf as part of our wildlife heritage.”

Connecticut lists nine endangered species, including several sea turtles, the right whale and the roseate tern

http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/18928-1

CLICK HERE to view poll.

Photo: Courtesy of  Wolf Warriors, Artist K.H.

Posted in: Wolf Wars, endangered species act, gray wolves

Tags: Americans support ESA and Wolves, gray wolf, endangered species act

Meet The Wolf~~Facts Not Fiction….

Wolves have labored under an undeserved, bad reputation through the ages, because of fear, bigotry and persecution by man.  To set the record straight, here are a few things you may not know about wolves.

1. Wolves live in family groups, which include a breeding pair called alphas (mother and father wolves)  Wolf bonds are strong, they hold the pack together. They will lay down their lives for each other. Family is everything to them.

“For the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack”…….Rudyard Kipling

2. Wolves kill for survival not fun.  Predation is the act of killing for food.

3. Wolves’ brains are thirty percent larger than dogs.

4. Wolves are the direct ancestors of dogs. “The domestic dog is an extremely close relative of the gray wolf, differing from it by at most 0.2% of Mitochondrial DNA sequence.  In comparison, the gray wolf differs from its closest wild relative, the coyote, by about 4% of Mtdna sequence….Robert K. Wayne, Ph.D.”

5. Black wolves inherited their coat color from dogs.

6. Wolves kill very few livestock, yet are continually blamed for livestock depredation.  Wolves killed fewer livestock then domestic dogs or vultures.(NASS 06) 

7. Wolves have great stamina, they are the super athletes of the animal world. Wolves can run 25 to 40 miles per hour for twenty minutes at a time. Now that’s an endurance runner.

8. Northern Rockies wolves lost their ESA protections in the Spring of 2009. They were hunted soon after, in the fall of the same year. It’s unheard of to hunt a newly delisted species so soon. It shows Montana and Idaho are NOT suitable “managers” of wolves. State “wolf management” is run by fish and game agencies, who’ve turned our forests and wild-lands into game farms, elevating ungulate numbers, while keeping predator populations low.  Their policies include killing wolves for MINIMAL livestock depredation. Whole packs are destroyed, pups killed. Who kills puppies? Wildlife Services does. They are the extermination arm of the USDA and carry out the states ”lethal control” of gray wolves. 

9. In 2009 over 500 wolves lost their lives in the Northern Rockies.

10. Wolves sense of smell is 100 times stronger than humans. They have more than 200 million olfactory cells.

11. Wolves cherish their pups, the entire pack takes responsiblity for raising them. It truly takes a village to raise wolf pups.

Think of Limpy. He tended his babysitting duties with care before he struck out on his own, leaving his natal pack and the safety of Yellowstone National Park. Ultimately he was shot dead, on the very day the then Bush administration lifted ESA protections for wolves, in 2008. HE DIED FOR NOTHING.

12. Wolves may be on the move for 8 to 10 hours per day. A wolf pack can cover over a hundred miles per day.

13. Wolves can and do get kicked in the ribs or risk skull fracture every time they go out for breakfast.

14. Wolves mate for life unless their partner is killed or displaced,  then they may find another mate.

15. Wolf pup mortality is high.

16. Wolves are an indicator species,  who do not adapt well to change. They are NOT coyotes, who are very adaptable.

17. Wolves are apex predators, which means they are at the top of the food chain. They play an integral role in keeping ecosystems healthy.

18. Wolves are the least dangerous of the large carnivores. Fatal wolf attacks on humans are RARE. Domestic dogs kill 20-30 people a year and bite another 4.5 million. Hunting accidents claim approx. 100 lives a year in the US and Canada and wound another 1000 people. An Oregon child was shot in the leg by a hunter while waiting at a bus stop. Cattle kill at least 50 people a year. Deer kill another 150 people annually, in-car crashes and cause over a billion dollars in damage.

19. Wolves were responsible for just 97 cow deaths in Montana in 2009,  out of a population of 2.6 million cattle. The coyote is the main predator of cattle but you would never know it. Even so, coyotes and all predation on cattle are MINIMAL.

Aside from the brutal fact that every single cow raised for food will end up dead, the main cause of cattle losses is non-predation, IE: weather, disease and reproductive issues and theft. 

Can you see how distorted this has gotten? Wolves are not the problem. Bigotry, irrational fear and outright lies directed at wolves, are the problem.

20. Wolves need our support more than ever. Spread the truth about wolves and don’t allow ignorance to flourish. Set the record straight.  I’ve had many conversations with people who mindlessly repeat the same tired myths and half-truths we’ve all heard as if they’re fact.

Humans should hang their heads in shame over the treatment of wolves, using them as scapegoats to justify killing them.

Wolves are trying to survive and live their lives without interference, just like us. 

Please write to local newspapers, speak with state and federal legislators. There is an assault on the ESA in Congress, that would strip gray wolves of their protections. There is no animal on this planet more persecuted then the wolf. Wolves CANNOT survive without the protection of the ESA. Fight for their right to be protected. We are their only voice. 

Why is it animal cruelty to kill domestic dog pups but not  wolf pups?  Think about it!

Listen to wolves howl CLICK HERE

Top photo: fanpop wallpaper

Posted in: Wolf Wars, gray wolf/canis lupus

Tags: Mitochondrial DNA, gray wolf,  Rudyard Kipling, Gray wolf, dog, endangered species act, wolf facts not fiction

 

Action Alert: Montana FWP Plans To Meet With Ranching and Hunting Lobbies To Build Coalition!

We did win a major victory when wolves were relisted on August 5th but you would never know it with the continual whining by the states, ranchers, hunters, et.al. The newest and most egregious assault on wolves is Montana FWP’s intention to hold a meeting, tomorrow, Friday, August 20th, at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel in Helena. The purpose?

“Montana officials are planning to meet with ranchers, hunters and other groups about joining forces after a federal judge restored Endangered Species Act protections for wolves.

“Wildlife officials in Montana and Idaho oppose the ruling earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy that blocked the states’ wolf management plans and their fall hunts.

Ranchers and hunters have also blasted the ruling, saying wolves have grown too numerous and are attacking livestock and game.

Ron Aasheim of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks says state wildlife officials will meet Friday in Helena with stockgrowers, woolgrowers, hunters, farmers and other groups to discuss forming a coalition.

Aasheim says participants will discuss the state’s options and a possible appeal. They meet 10 a.m. at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel in Helena.”

Is this even legal? How can the state of Montana seek to form a coalition with anti-wolf lobbies? This has to be a conflict of interest. Does the state not represent the entire population? What about wolf advocates who don’t hunt or have ranches or farms but want wolves protected? Do we count at all?

Does everyone see what wolves are up against? How the USFWS could push to delist gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, when they are fully aware of the toxic climate that exists in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming against wolves, is egregious beyond measure.

Is anyone responsible for “managing”wolves looking out for them?

Will wolf advocates be at the meeting tomorrow with their video cameras, to document what is being said?  Will there be minutes to this meeting? And who are the other groups Ron Aasheim of Montana FWP is talking about? I don’t see one environmental group mentioned? How desperate do you have to be to pull a stunt like this, barely two weeks after wolves protections were restored?  Should Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks be renamed, Montana For Hunting, Ranching and Woolgrowers?

Think about this for a minute. This is the state of Montana, holding a meeting,with practically no notice ( I could not find an announcement about this meeting anywhere before today, if there is such a link,  please post it on this blog), to build a coalition with groups who are clearly anti-wolf.  Oh and we can’t forget the unnamed “‘other groups”. Who are they, the Safari Club and Cattlemen’s Assoc.?

Wolf advocates, if you can make this meeting under such short notice, I urge you to do so. Wolves can’t speak for themselves, they need our help. The persecution of these magnificent animals knows no bounds. Please take this seriously. In my opinion the state is trying to find a way to circumvent the ESA and hold wolf hunts. I believe there are powerful hunting forces behind this push to dismantle the ESA and strip wolves of their protections. If it wasn’t for the endangered species act, wolves would never have made a comeback at all.

Here’s a video of one of the last wild Mexican gray wolves, captured in Northern Mexico in the 1970′s. Is this what’s  in store for wolves in the Northern Rockies? Just a few wolves left standing?

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Aug 19, 2010 12:28 pm US/Mountain

Mont. Seeks Wolf Coalition With Ranchers, Hunters

http://cbs4denver.com/wireapnewswy/Montana.wildlife.officials.2.1868920.html

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: endangered species act, gray wolf, Montana, USFWS, Helena meeting Montana FWP

Remembering Environmental Icon Stewart Udall

JFK and Stewart Udall

Over the long haul of life on this planet, it is the ecologists, and not the bookkeepers of business, who are the ultimate accountants…Stewart Udall

 An environmental icon has died. 

Fish Creek Moutains Wilderness, California

Stewart Udall, who was Secretary of the Interior during the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson administrations, passed away in his home yesterday in Sante Fe, New Mexico. 

Stewart Udall was a hero of mine. He helped pass the Wilderness Act, a monumental piece of legislation that states:

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

Idaho is trampling on that act by landing helicopters in  the Frank Church/Wilderness of No Return to harass and collar wolves. 

Stewart Udall was a great American. These are just some of his accomplishments:

From Wiki:

“Udall was largely responsible for the enactment of environmental laws in Johnson’s Great Society, legislative agenda, including the Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and Amendments, The Wilderness Act of 1964,  The Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 ( which was the predecessor of The Endangered Species Act of 1973, The Land and Water Conservation [Fund] Act of 1965, The Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, the National Trail System Act of 1968, and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.”

The Wave, Coyotte Buttes North, Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona

If only we had leaders like Stewart Udall today. It was because of Udall and other dedicated Americans, that the wolf was able to make a comeback in the Western US, shielded by ESA from the hate and persecution that caused their extermination the first time around. 

Now the gray wolves existence is threatened because the Obama administration has stripped them of their ESA protections.  I wonder what Stewart Udall thought of that decision? I think we know the answer. He could have given our current Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, lessons on protecting our national treasures instead of catering to the livestock industry.

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Conservation Icon Stewart Udall Dies

Posted: 20 Mar 2010 02:01 PM PDT

Glacier National Park

Stewart Udall, a Western political and conservation icon who served as Interior secretary for presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, died Saturday morning at his home at age 90.

Udall was a member of a family of influential Western Democrats. His brother Morris Udall was a congressman and one-time presidential contender. His son Tom is a New Mexico Senator. His nephew Mark is a Colorado Senator. My Uncle Stewart was a great public servant, and a wonderful writer and storyteller, Mark Udall said in a statement. He was passionate about conservation, and he was a champion of Native peoples. All those who care about our national parks and the environment will miss his voice. Read the rest of the article:

Steens Mountain, Oregon

“We Have I Fear, Confused Power With Greatness” 

Steward Udall

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Stewart Udall, Lion of the American West, Dead at 90

http://sfreporter.com/stories/stewart_udall_lion_of_the_american_west_dead_at_90/5446/

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Wilderness Photos: Wikimedia Commons

Wolf photo: www.wallpaper.searchrealm.com

Posted in: Environmental Icons

Tags: Stewart Udall, Iconic Secretary of the Interior, wilderness act, endangered species act, clean air and water, national trail system, wild and scenic rivers

USFWS 2009 Wolf Report…Just Peachy!

According to the newly published USFWS 2009 report on wolves, all is peachy in the Northern Rockies with wolves. The report touts the wolf population in the Northern Rockies grew in 2009 but the tiny 4% increase is the smallest since wolves were reintroduced in 1995. That’s because over 500 wolves were lost in 09 due to hunting, lethal control, SSS (shoot, shovel and shutup) and general wolf mortality. Yellowstone wolf numbers are below 100, from 124 in 2008.  The famous and studied Druid Peak Pack, who once numbered 37, are now down to just one wolf, sadly the Druids are finished and so a legend fades into history. (Although we can hold out hope the missing six Druids will resurface)

USFWS states wolves are fully recovered and conveniently all the counting adds up so nicely for them.

Wolves were delisted by the Obama administration in Spring 2009. Since that time wolves have been hammered by Wildlife Services even though cattle depredations were lower then 2008. Yet 272 wolves died in the Northern Rockies in 2009 for killing 214 cows out of SIX MILLION COWS.  The irony is ranchers complaining about their tiny livestock losses were reimbursed $457,785 in 2009 by private and state agencies.

How many cattle have ranchers sent to their deaths? That would be 100%, unless they raise them as pets. It’s the ranchers not the wolves killing all the cows because cattle are raised to be killed for profit. Once cattle are old enough they are sent to feed lots to be fattened up, then sent off to the slaughterhouse. Over 41 million cows die horrible deaths every year in this country for the cattle and dairy industries. 

Since wolves were delisted over fifteen years ago the feds have killed 1300 wolves for 1300 cattle depredations. Don’t you find that tit for tat style “management” simply appalling?   How many cows do you think died in the last fifteen years from disease, weather, theft and reproductive issues? Millions! Yet the government continues the war against wolves, spending close to four million dollars last year counting wolves, controlling wolves, stalking wolves, darting wolves and killing wolves. All that federal spending for a non-problem. Their 2010 wolf budget is projected to be $4,200,000. More wolf killing coming up.

Wolves do not deserve this kind of scrutiny or lethal control. This is a PR campaign to appease constantly complaining ranchers and hunters who blow the wolf issue completely out of proportion and everyone knows it. The key statement in the USFWS wolf report is: 

“Although wolf depredation results in a comparatively small proportion of all livestock losses in the NRM DPS, wolf damage can be significant to some livestock producers.” 

Get it? Wolves kill miniscule numbers of livestock but because ranchers complain, wolves are killed. Does this make any sense to you? What kind of management is this?  What about the non-ranching, non hunting public that would like to view wolves in the wild? Apparently our feelings and opinions don’t matter.

Cattle Losses From AGRO’s Website
In 2005, U.S. producers raised 104.5 million head of cattle (USDA, 2005a). Approximately every five years, NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service)reports on unintentional cattle deaths as a result of predation, weather issues, disease etc. The latest cattle death report was released in May 2006 (USDA, 2006). The government’s own figures again show that mammalian carnivores kill very few livestock (0.18%) 

Cattle Deaths from other causes: 3.5% (3,861,000)

Respiratory problems, Digestive problems, Calving, Unknown, Weather, Other Disease, Lameness/Injury, Metabolic Problems, Mastitis, Poison, Theft

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In  2005 104,500,00 cattle were produced in the United States 

Carnivores killed  0.18% (190,000) Cattle

Coyotes (51%, 97,000), Other Unknown (21%), Domestic Dogs 21,9000), Felids (8% 14,700), Vultures (5%), Wolves (2% , 4400), Bears (1%)

The statistics don’t lie. Wolf kills on livestock are a blip on the radar screen. Heck vultures killed more cows then wolves in 2005. Coyotes were responsible for most of the kills by far but predation only accounted for 0.18% of cattle mortality, while other causes accounted for 3.5% or 3,861,000 dead cows.

Predation by mammlian carnivores is a tiny part of cattle mortality. Wolves are barely in the picture. Yet we have a huge federal program to track wolves like they are terrorists. The new USDA NASS cattle mortality figures will be out this year. I will be posting them. Is anyone in the wolf killing business really interested in these stats or is it simply about keeping wolf numbers low to boost ungulate populations and appease ranchers?  This is why I will repeat once more, State Game Agencies Should Not Be Managing Predators, period!

The USFWS report is all about wolf and livestock numbers but what it doesn’t include is a report on the hysteria that’s building in Idaho and Montana around wolves. The Idaho legislature actually passed a resolution asking their governor to declare a State of Emergency in Idaho concerning wolves. Idaho has already stated they want to reduce the wolf population from 850 to 500.  Montana FWP recently decided Wildlife Services can operate on their own to kill wolves, no longer needing permission from Montana FWP. Wolves can now be shot on sight by Wildlife Services for being near a dead cow. Joe Maurier, head of Montana FWP, stated hunting quotas would likely increase next year if wolves are not relisted. We all knew that was coming.

From the Missoulian:

“In a hearing before the Environmental Quality Council, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks director Joe Maurier said federal Wildlife Services agents no longer need FWP authorization to kill wolves at or near confirmed livestock depredation sites.

The agents also will be able to immediately kill any wolves that are trapped when they return to those sites to feed on dead livestock.

“For the amount of conflict we have in all sectors today, we probably have too many wolves on the landscape,” Maurier told the council. “We had tolerable conflict on the landscape; now it’s intolerable. Now we have to go back to the point where it’s tolerable at all levels but we still have a viable population.”

Maurier added that he expects the wolf hunting quota to be increased next season from the initial statewide quota of 75 as another way to lower the wolf population. Initial estimates put Montana’s wolf population at 500 animals this year, which is about the same as last year.

IDFG has been given permission to land in the Frank Church wilderness to dart and collar wolves, which I believe is clearly a violation of The Wilderness Act. The Idaho hunt is  ongoing. It’s now the beginning of wolf denning season in Idaho and pregnant alphas are returning to their dens. Will they be killed in their dens before giving birth? I have to ask this question because Idaho extended it’s hunting season SEVEN LONG MONTHS, to March 31st, 2010.  I wonder what next years wolf count will look like if wolves are not relisted, because make no mistake this is an all out war on wolves. 

Things are most certainly not peachy for wolves in the Northern Rockies no matter how bright a picture USFWS wants to paint. The stark reality is wolf persecution has only increased since the hunts started. Wildlife Services has gotten bolder, wolf haters are crawling out of the wood work and I predict if wolves are not relisted we will see serious declines in wolf  numbers in 2010.

There is also nothing in the report about the effect the hunts have had on wolf packs, except to report  numbers. Wolves are highly socialized animals. When alphas or the mothers and fathers of a pack are killed the packs almost always disband. Twenty eight total wolf packs disappeared in 2009, 64% killed for livestock depredation. Oregon killed one entire wolf pack  for cows and they only have three total. Fairly amazing coming from a state I thought was progressive in it’s thinking. I guess ranching interests trump everything else, even in Oregon. Are any of the state game agencies prepared to fine ranchers for poor animal husbandry practices, ie. not protecting their investment, leaving livestock unattended? Will public grazing leases be pulled when ranchers refuse to remove dead cow carcasses not killed by wolves but left to rot?  If a wolf is caught feeding on one, they can be killed.

Did the hunts drive down the average age of wolves? If wolves are subjected to the Russian roulette (as Daniel MacNulty, wolf researcher calls it) of hunting and Wildlife Services killings each year, what chance do they have to retain cohesiveness and stability among packs?  Daniel MacNulty, the Yellowstone wolf  researcher, has stated hunting wolves pushes the age of wolves downward, resulting in younger and younger wolves.

 “It’s been shown in other hunted populations of wolves that hunting skews the population toward younger age classes,” he explains. And, as his research shows, that could spell more deaths, not fewer, for the elk.

The reason hunting pushes a population’s age structure downward is because being hunted is like playing Russian roulette. If, starting early in life, every member of a society had to play Russian roulette regularly, not too many would live to a ripe old age, he says.”

Despite the peachy picture painted by the USFWS 2009 wolf report, wolves need ESA protection, without it they will continue to be killed and persecuted, there is no middle ground on this.

2009 was a horrendous year for wolves and 2010 isn’t shaping up to be any better unless Judge Molloy rules to relist them. If he doesn’t there is no telling what fresh hell will reign down on wolves in the Northern Rockies.

 

Posted in: gray wolf /canis lupus, howling for justice, wolf 2009 delisting

Tags:  USFWS 2009 Interagency Wolf Report,  wolves or livestock, Frank Church Wilderness, aerial gunning of wolves, endangered species act