“Montana Governor Steve Bullock and the Politics of Wolves” by Stephen Capra

April 9, 2013

Common sense writing on Montana wolves, I  thought  it was worth sharing.

Are you listening to their howls Governor Bullock? Wolves are treasured by real Montanans who care about wild places and wilderness. Be bold! Don’t listen to the crazy rhetoric, it’s not grounded in fact.

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BOLD VISIONS CONSERVATION

This week’s Sunday Sermon Vol. 1  No. 2

Montana Governor Steve Bullock

and the politics of Wolves

 Stephen Capra

 There was a time when I use to think politics really mattered. I remember going to a rally for Senator Eugene McCarthy, as he ran for President in 1968, in Madison Square Garden, the energy and belief could really change our nation, or so I thought.

I really believed that democrats would change our country, by the end of that year our heart had been stolen by too many bullets, to many great leader’s had fallen. I think of that today with the state of affairs in Montana, a state led by ignorance, political pandering and a Governor who fancies himself progressive.

This all comes back to our heart being stolen. In this case it’s not men that have fallen, its wolves. I have watched as Montana shared in the magical return of wolves to Yellowstone, watched as tourists have flocked from around the world, watched in Lamar Valley as you could not estimate the price of cameras in a one-mile stretch, all focused on wolves. Since President Obama sold wolves out and the Endangered Species Act on a rider that ensured another Democrat would get re-elected, Senator Jon Tester, clear thinking shows us that faith in political leaders is very overrated.

Over the past few months the Montana Legislature, seemingly some of the most ill-informed, and job destroying group of people God ever put under one roof, spent the majority of their time trying to find new ways of killing wildlife. Spear-hunting was a hot topic, yes spear-hunting. Of course, new ways to kill, more jobs. Yet, when it came to wolves and bison, this group could not have enough blood on their hands. If it was not so heartbreaking, it would be funny. Listening to Montana Game and Fish talk about “responsibly harvesting” predators, none of it with any science worth discussing.

This is a group designed to kill animals, not protect. New bills are now being introduced. to allow silencers on guns to protect the precious ears of hunters; continuing to allow dead wolf members to be used as traps set to kill the rest of the family; making licenses easier and cheaper. New non-resident permits can be had for $50.

When Governor Bullock panders to the wolf hating bunch, he opens the door to killing more beautiful animals and their family units slaughtered by ignorance and by the ego that demands reelection. If Democrats do not have the guts to stand up for wolves, [by standing up I mean vocally,] publicly, and ignore the stupidity of state Game and Fish departments, there will be shooting in the dens of newborn pups. Introduction of strong and important protections for wolves must happen now and end the shameless pain of trapping once and for all. The Governor is aware that people come from all over the world (meaning serious tourist dollars) to observe wolves.

  The whining rancher scenario is a SNORE.

I believe in wolves, I love bison. I am sick and tired of Democrats that want only their reelection and refuse to acknowledge how important wildlife is to our humanity. I challenge them to causality.

 It amazes me that some people can feel nothing when confronted with wild animals. For me it is so magical, such a spiritual experience. I have seen grizzlies in the wild, wolves and bison. It is a gift; there is more than enough land to share. Throughout our history we have destroyed as a means of growth for man to feel magisterial.

 William Beebe said it so well, “When the last individual of a race of living things breaths no more, another heaven and earth must pass before such a one can begin again.”

 I was inspired in 1968. I look forward to being inspired once again, but my Democratic party and Governors like Bullock must become inspiring, must take chances, and must become a voice for those who cannot speak.

 Don’t be redundant Governor, wolves belong! Be BOLD!

Let your soul heal in the wild spirit that wolves bring to us. Amen!

http://boldvisions.businesscatalyst.com/opinion.html

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Photo:  Quanah Animal Edutainment

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Montana wolves

Tags: Bold Visions Conservation, Governor Steve Bullock,  Montana, stop the wolf hunts, Steve Capra

Over A Thousand Wolves Destroyed In Race To The Bottom….

Wolf Hunting With AR-15

1092 WOLVES SLAUGHTERED IN WOLF HUNTS SINCE 8/30/2012

And it’s not over yet. Idaho’s wolf hunt continues.

How many wolves have to die?

When will the brutality end?

So many wolf families destroyed, untold suffering!

Will you speak for them?

100

Wolf Pup and Mother

200

Image Emailed To Wolf Advocate On Christmas eve 2009 with Message – “Merry Cristmas”

300

400

Gut Shot

500

600

WHY?

700

OR-16 shot dead near Lowman, Idaho

800

Fear Drives Hate

900

Idaho Says Make It Hurt!

1000

Yellowstone Lamar Canyon Alpha Female (O6) Shot Dead Fifteen Miles Outside The Park

92

Photos Courtesy: survivaltechniques101.com,AR15dotcom forbidanimalcrueltydotcom, tracksandsignsblogspot dot com, earth island journal, wikipedia commons, whitewolfpackdotcom, LA Times, Ann Sydow

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: 1092 wolves killed for blood lust, wolf wars, unconscionable, stop the wolf hunts,  stand up for wolves, wolf killing states, Montana, Idaho, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Minnesota, AR-15dotcom

‘Blood on their hands’ by Ratty and the Watchers

Thank you Dave and the rest of the band for your passionate, wonderful dedication to wolves and their fallen brethren.

Please share it far and wide Wolf Warriors, let this be our rallying cry!!

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Photo: Wolf Warriors, Commons

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: Ratty and the Watchers, Blood on Their Hands, Stop killing wolves, stand up for wolves, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Michigan, Minnesota

Montana Declares War On Wolves, AGAIN!

I’ve always loved Montana, especially Western Montana. The Rocky Mountain Front, Bob Marshall Wilderness, The Great Bear Wilderness, Glacier National Park, The North Fork,  The Swan Range, Jewel Basin, Flathead Lake, Logan’s Pass, Going to the Sun Road, Spotted Bear, The Bitterroot Mountains and so many other wonderful places too numerous to mention.  Even its name reflects its majesty, Montana, land of mountains. Louis and Clark journeyed there on their epic exploration.

“In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned an exploration to trace the Missouri River to its source and find a water route to the Pacific Ocean.

Under the leadership of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark the Corps of Discovery covered almost 8,000 miles from St. Louis, Missouri, to the mouth of the Columbia River, returning two years later. They journeyed westward across Montana from April 1805 to September of that year. On the return trip to St. Louis in the summer of 1806, the leaders crossed Montana using two separate routes.”….

Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer was struck down by the power of the Sioux Nation, on a bloody Montana battlefield.

“It is estimated that as many as 12,000 Indians, of whom 4,000 were warriors, gathered near the Little Big Horn River, in what is now Montana, to meet with Sitting Bull. The encampment included Lakota bands (Oglalas, Brules, Sans Arcs, Minneconjous, and Hunkpapas) as well as Cheyenne and Blackfeet. The Sioux had a reputation as warriors”….eyewitnesstohistorydotcom

Montana is the third largest state in the Lower Forty Eight,  it’s huge. When I was a kid I dug for fish fossils there.

“During much of the Cretaceous Period (144 to 65 million years ago) a large portion of Montana was covered by the waters of a shallow, inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway. The sea was formed as west-central North America was subsiding to an elevation below sea level. As this sinking occurred the area filled with water from the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean….“formontanadotnet

I can still remember sifting through the shale rock looking for a perfect two-sided fossil, it was great adventure. My childhood memories were filled with Montana, a magnificent place where the sky never ends.

Montana is blessed with abundant wildlife and certainly plenty of room for wolves. Montanans’ should be proud to live in a state that supports all top predators in vast intact ecosystems, the grizzly, the mountain lion, the gray wolf. But sadly the state has been hijacked by people who care nothing for trophic cascades or apex predators.  They want to turn Montana into a giant elk farm for their pleasure, as if elk or any of the wildlife belong to them.

I still love Montana’s beauty but there is an ugliness that hovers there now, an intolerance that holds Montana in its grasp. Montana is killing wolves, just as they did decades ago.

“In the United States, large-scale predator control programs were carried out, with wolves hunted and killed nearly to extinction.  By the middle of the 20th century, few wolves existed in the Lower 48 states.  Only several hundred gray wolves in Minnesota remained, with a few Red wolves and an occasional Mexican gray wolf reported. Both the Mexican gray wolf and the red wolf were eventually completely eliminated in the wild and prior to recent reintroduction efforts, existed only in captivity”..National Wolf Fact Sheet

The Endangered Species Act was signed by President Nixon in 1973 and by the late seventies wolves started to return home to Northwestern Montana, forming packs, some large, like the Magic Pack.

“Reports of wolves near Glacier National Park began to trickle in during the late 1970s. In 1979 a wolf was captured just north of the U.S. border in British Columbia. She was released with a radio collar. Three years later this same wolf had mated and produced a litter of eight pups. According to Hank Fischer in his book “Wolf Wars,” this pack was named the “Magic Pack” due to its tendency to appear and disappear for long periods.The Magic Pack became the first pack of wolves to inhabit the western United States in 50 years.”..Wolf Report 8/18/96

They weren’t reintroduced, they reintroduced themselves. They belong there and no hysterical elk hunter is going to tell me any different. Montana is prime wolf country and it’s their home. It’s been their home for thousands of years, before European settlers ever set foot on the continent, where Native Americans lived peacefully among them, where gray wolves co-existed with Dire wolves.

Now with wolf hysteria reaching a fever pitch, Montana has declared war on wolves once again. Ready to do the bidding of the ranching and hunting lobbies, Montana legislators aren’t satisfied that hundreds of wolves have died in the state since wolves lost their ESA protections in 2009.  They want to make life even harder for wolves. Science be damned, let politics reign. A particularly nasty piece of legislation, HB 73, sailed through the Montana Senate last week and is waiting newly elected Governor Bullock’s signature. Will he veto it? I don’t hold out much hope for that.  Again politics before science.

House Bill 73 lets the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks increase the number of wolves one hunter can take, allows for electronic calls, and removes a requirement to wear hunter orange outside general deer and elk season.

 

The measure also prohibits the state wildlife agency from banning wolf hunts in areas around national parks. Its swift passage would allow the changes to take effect during the hunting season that’s currently under way…missoulian

Take note Montana legislators, you’ve turned a once beloved state into wolf killing fields, becoming a smaller version of Alaska, a state who kills wolves without mercy or an Idaho clone, where it’s now legal to use wolf carcasses to bait wolves to their deaths.

Montana is a place where wolves howl but those howls could be silenced forever and the state I loved will never be the same again!

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Contact Governor Bullock and ask him to veto HB 73

Governor Steve Bullock 

406-444-3111

governor@mt.gov

Two Big Horned Sheep Rams, Glacier National Park (Nabeki)

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Top Photo: tumblr

Middle Photo: Wiki Commons

Bottom Photo: Nabeki

Posted in: Wolf Wars,  Montana wolves

Tags: Montana, HB 73,  Wolf Wars,  Inland Sea, Fish Fossils, Sioux Nation, Custer, Lewis and Clark, wolf hunts

916 Wolves Massacred in Hunts….

 What gives with the number changes? Can’t they count? Did they lose two wolves?

I haven’t been saving the individual daily counts but now I am. This has happened several times. Idaho’s counts have changed too. It’s bad enough having to do this but seeing the numbers go up and down  is even more maddening

January 14, 2013

138/31 Idaho
104/45 Montana
42/27 Wyoming
117    Wisconsin
412    Minnesota
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916

January 11, 2013

138/31 ID
105/42 MT
42/27 WY
117 WI
412 MN
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914

January 10, 2013

137/30 ID
109/37 MT
42/27 WY
117 WI
412 MN

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911

January 9, 2013

136/28 ID
102/38 MT
42/27 WY
117 WI
412 MN

902

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January 8, 2013

136/28 ID

103/39 MT

42/27 WY

117 WI

412 MN

904

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There are no words for this disgusting display of cowardice and brutality. Why are these wolves dead?  What is their crime? That they live and breathe air?

All who are silent are guilty. All who made this possible are guilty. All who pulled the trigger, shot the arrows, used the poison, set the traps and snares, baited and called,  tracked the collars, killed the babies, killed the mothers, killed the fathers, killed the brothers, killed the sisters, killed without mercy, killed with black hearts, tortured, maimed, chased, bludgeoned, strangled, stalked and stabbed have my utter and complete contempt.

We will stop this madness, we will end this nightmare, we will save America’s wolves from this butchery, no matter how long it takes or the sacrifices we have to make. We will never give up, we will not capitulate. We are legion.

For the wolves,

Nabeki

“Wolves are the parents, the mothers, the fathers, the brothers and sisters that we always hoped we could be. I mean there’s extreme loyalty among family members, it’s everything to them“

Ed Bangs, Nova Online

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Photo: Courtesy The  Champion/ Tumblr

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Animal Cruelty

Tags: 904 wolves slaughtered, wolf persecution, wolf hunts, Montana, Idaho, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wyoming, wolf hunting evil, relist wolves, save America’s wolves

181 Innocent Wolves Slaughtered In Idaho, Montana, Wyoming & Wisconsin Wolf Hunts

UPDATE: October 30, 2012

ELEVEN more wolves were reported slain since YESTERDAY, October 29.  

Wake up America!! 

Innocent wolves are dying torturous deaths. Pups, mothers, fathers, wolf families destroyed! 

Get Active! Organize! This will continue until we join together to stop it!

 Howl Across America!!!

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IDAHO - 74

MONTANA – 32

WYOMING – 37

WISCONSIN - 38

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181 Wolves Slaughtered in 2 Months!!

 

Video: YouTube Two Socks – Dances With Wolves

Photo:  Animal Babies Wallpaper

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags:  wolf slaughter, wolf hunts, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Wisconsin, GET ACTIVE!!

142 Wolves Slaughtered in Combined Hunts!

Nine more wolves were reported slain since YESTERDAY, October 23.  

Wake up America!! 

Innocent wolves are dying torturous deaths. Pups, mothers, fathers, wolf families destroyed! 

This image was sent to a wolf advocate on Christmas Eve 2009 with the message: MERRY CRISTMAS!!

Get Active! Organize! This will continue until we join together to stop it!

 Howl Across America!!!

IDAHO – 65

MONTANA – 24

WYOMING – 31

WISCONSIN – 22

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142 Wolves Wiped Out in 55 Days

 

Video: YouTube: En compagnie des loups – Pour tous les Loups.wmv

Photo: Sent to Wolf Advocate 2009

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags:  wolf slaughter, wolf hunts, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Wisconsin, GET ACTIVE!!

133 Wolves Destroyed in Combined Hunts!

The death toll rises. Innocent wolves are dying torturous deaths. Pups, mothers, fathers, wolf families destroyed! 

This image was sent to a wolf advocate on Christmas Eve 2009 with the message: MERRY CRISTMAS!!

Get Active! Organize! This will continue until we join together to stop it!

 Howl Across America!!!

IDAHO – 65

MONTANA – 18

WYOMING – 30

WISCONSIN – 20

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133 Wolves Slaughtered in 54 Days

 

Video: YouTube: En compagnie des loups – Pour tous les Loups.wmv

Photo: Sent to Wolf Advocate 2009

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags:  wolf slaughter, wolf hunts, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Wisconsin, GET ACTIVE!!

Will You?

This post is dedicated to all wolves who’ve suffered and continue to suffer brutal, senseless deaths in the name of blood sport and agribusiness.

The brutal war against America’s wolves wages on?

Will you be silent?

Will you fight for them?

Will you allow this to continue?

Will you organize in your hometown?

Will you hold a protest?

Will you work to end public land grazing?

Will you write letters to the editor?

Will you write to the Infamous 81 US Senators  who voted to delist wolves in the Northern Rockies via budget rider?

Will you tell those Senators you WILL NOT VOTE FOR THEM on November 6 because of their betrayal? 

Will you boycott all wolf states that hold trophy hunts or kill wolves for agribusiness?

Will you boycott Yellowstone National Park to send Wyoming a message?

Will you spread this message to everyone you know?

Will you be a true Wolf Warrior?

Will you?

Minnesota

Minnesota: Court rejects bid to block wolf hunt

Associated Press

Posted:   10/10/2012 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:   10/10/2012 07:26:03 PM CDT

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_21741958/court-rejects-bid-block-minn-wolf-hunt

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Trapped doomed wolf

Wisconsin

Wolf hunt to start Monday

Updated: Thursday, 11 Oct 2012, 5:53 PM CDT
Published : Thursday, 11 Oct 2012, 5:53 PM CDT

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local/green_bay/wolf-hunt-to-start-monday

Hearing on use of dogs in wolf hunt will be Dec. 20

By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel

Oct. 6, 2012

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/hearing-on-use-of-dogs-in-wolf-hunt-will-be-dec-20-2q74b6b-172979611.html

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Wisconsin and Minnesota

Wisconsin, Minnesota ready for first wolf hunts

By STEVE KARNOWSKI and TODD RICHMOND | Associated Press – Wed, Oct 10, 2012

http://news.yahoo.com/wisconsin-minnesota-ready-first-wolf-hunts-175306321.html

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Stand up for wolves! This photo made the Los Angeles Times! (Mato Woksabe)

Michigan

Michigan State Representative Proposes Wolf Hunt

by Outdoor Hub Reporters on August 21, 2012

submitted by: Agnieszka Spieszny

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/michigan-state-representative-proposes-wolf-hunt/

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Fox Mountain wolf pups 2008 (Mexican Wolf Inter-agency Field Team)

New Mexico

Wanted Mexican gray wolf on the run in NM captured

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS Associated Press

Updated:   10/10/2012 07:14:31 PM MDT

http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_21747896/gov-martinez-relocate-mexican-gray-wolf-pack

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Gov. Martinez: Relocate Mexican gray wolf pack

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS Associated Press

Posted:   10/11/2012 03:05:16 AM MDT

http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_21747896/gov-martinez-relocate-mexican-gray-wolf-pack

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This is the hate wolves face

Montana

On the hunt in wolf country: Expanded Montana season begins Monday

7:13 AM, Oct 11, 2012

 http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20121011/LIFESTYLE05/310110010/On-hunt-wolf-country-Expanded-Montana-season-begins-Monday

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Wolf trapped waiting to die

Idaho

Idaho’s wolf hunt season now open all year

By Kimberlee Kruesi

The Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho) staff

Sun, 07/22/2012 – 8:23am

http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/07/22/idaho-s-wolf-hunt-season-now-open-all-year

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Senseless Slaughter

Wyoming

Wolves in Wyoming Go from Endangered to Hunted

http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/news/national-news/38301-wolves-in-wyoming-go-from-endangered-to-hunted

Open Season in Wyoming Threatens Wolf Recovery

08 OCTOBER 2012, 8:56 AM

http://earthjustice.org/blog/2012-october/open-season-in-wyoming-threatens-wolf-recovery

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USFWS

Feds opt not to extend special protection to Mexican gray wolf

Posted Oct 11, 2012, 11:37 pm

Cale OttensCronkite News Service

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/101112_mexican_gray_wolf/feds-opt-not-extend-special-protection-mexican-gray-wolf/

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Wedge Pack alpha male being collared, the collar allowed sharpshooters to find and kill his pack .  Then they shot and killed him.

Washington

Killing entire wolf pack is in nobody’s best interests

Published: October 12, 2012

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/10/12/2725979/killing-entire-wolf-pack-is-in.html

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Oregon Weneha wolf killed by poacher

Oregon 

Court Stays Execution of Two Oregon Wolves

SALEM, ORE Oct 06, 2011

http://www.oregonwild.org/about/press-room/press-releases/court-stays-execution-of-two-oregon-wolves/?searchterm=imnaha

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California

Journey In California, The First Wolf  Confirmed In The State Since the 1920′s

And then there’s Journey (OR-7). The One Bright Spot In This Miserable War On America’s Wolves

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oregon Wild Talks Wolves On AM Northwest

Wildlife and Wildlands Advocate Rob Klavins stopped by KATU-TV’s AM Northwest to talk about Journey and Oregon’s wolves.

http://www.oregonwild.org/about/press-room/press-releases/oregon-wild-talks-wolves-on-am-northwest

Calif. agrees to study protections for gray wolf

JASON DEAREN, Associated Press

Updated 5:35 p.m., Wednesday, October 3, 2012

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Calif-agrees-to-study-protections-for-gray-wolf-3917467.php#ixzz29AmZ5vLU

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Photos: Photobucket, USFWS, ODFW, Wolf Wallpaper, Flickr Commons

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Idaho wolves, Montana wolves, Wyoming wolves, Minnesota wolves, Wisconsin Wolves, Michigan wolves, Oregon wolves, Washington wolves, California wolf

Tags: Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Mexican gray wolf, Fox Mountain alpha captured, Fox Mountain pack, Wenaha Pack wolf poached,  wolf trapping torture,  OR-7, retire grazing leases, stop killing wolves, Wedge Pack gone, Wyoming predator zone, boycott wolf killing states, Imnaha Pack

Wild Mexican Gray Wolf Pups (USFWS)

The Amazing Journey and Sad End of Wolf 314F

May 31, 2012

This important story deserves a repost. The little Montana wolf didn’t have to die. She traveled so far searching for a mate, only to be poisoned for her efforts. Wildlife Services and it’s cache of deadly toxins must be abolished!!

UPDATE: January 10, 2011

I posted this sad tale in October 2009 about an amazing little Mill Creek Pack wolf, who traveled 1000 miles from her home in Montana to a lonely hillside in Colorado, called “No Name Ridge”, where her bones were found.

Her death has been under investigation by USFWS all this time.

Finally, after almost two years,  it was announced she was poisoned by the deadly compound 1080. It is one of the horrific poisons Wildlife Services uses in its arsenal to kill our wildlife.

The organization Predator Defense has been trying for years to ban this  deadly compound along with Sodium Cyanide, used in M-44s. So far they have been unsuccessful in their bid to do so. Maybe now people will wake up and realize they must  pressure Congress to ban these deadly poisons FOREVER.

Apparently Compound 1080 is banned in Colorado, which would make 314f’s death an illegal killing.

This is a sad day for me to learn how the little 20 month old 314f  died. Her epic journey to Colorado, ended in an agonizing death at the hand of Compound 1080.

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Bill to Ban Two Deadly Agents Stalled in Congress

http://www.predatordefense.org/

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From Predator Defense:

Help Us Ban Compound 1080

“From its inception, Predator Defense has fought for a worldwide ban on the deadly poison called Compound 1080. Unfortunately, our bill to ban it is stalled in Congress.”

http://www.predatordefense.org/1080.htm

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2009 Colorado dead wolf was killed by poison . . . the notorious 1080

by RALPH MAUGHAN on JANUARY 10, 2011

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2011/01/10/colorado-wolf-1080-poison/

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“Two Killers that Need to Go: The Case Against Poisoning our Wildlife and Pets”

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It’s not just used in the US. “New Zealand uses 80% of the world’s production of 1080″ compound.

1080 Compound New Zealand’s Deadly Toxic Poison of Choice

http://www.careydillon.com/unpurenzfinal/poisons.html

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The Amazing Journey and Sad End of  Wolf 314f

October 10, 2009

She traveled through five states, her GPS collar registering 1000 miles.  This young Mill Creek Pack wolf  left her Montana home in September 08 and arrived in Colorado in February 09.  Her epic journey was long and precarious.  She was tracked through Yellowstone National Park, western Wyoming, the Bridger-Teton National Forest, southeastern Idaho , northeastern Utah, finally arriving in Eagle County, Colorado.

Her journey ended in February 09 on a lonely hillside in Colorado called “No Name Ridge, where her bones were found.  Nobody is saying how she died.  The investigation into her death is ongoing.

314F’s life and death reinforces the argument wolves need ESA protection,  especially when they’re dispersing  in search of other wolves or a mate.  They’re under constant pressure from the SSS mentality, which makes this young wolf’s journey so incredible.

Against all odds, this twenty month old wolf showed the world what wolves are made of. I hope Wildlife officials discover how she met her end.  If she died by human hands this person or persons should be prosecuted!

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Lonely Lady Wolf Looks For Love in All The Wrong Places

Rocky Mountain News

By Berny Morson

Published February 25, 2009 at 3:09 p.m.

Call it the power of  love.

A female wolf has wandered more than 1,000 miles through five states in search of a mate and is now in Colorado’s Eagle County, wildlife officials in Colorado and Montana said Wednesday.

The wolf, known only as 314F, set off on her lonely quest in September when, for reasons unknown, she became unhappy with the male prospects among the pack of seven animals she was born into 20 months earlier.

Since then, 314F has followed her heart from the Paradise Valley north of Yellowstone National Park through Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. She has trotted past areas where other wolf packs are known to live toward a state that has not had a wolf population for 60 years.

Montana officials follow her progress with a global positioning device on a collar that was fitted to her neck in July.

“Basically, what she’s doing is, she’s wandering around looking to see if there’s other wolves around,” said Carolyn Sime, wolf program coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Her prospects here are not good. The last confirmed wolf sighting in Colorado was a male who made his way from Yellowstone in 2004. But he was killed on Interstate 70 near Idaho Springs before anyone knew he was here.

Colorado Division of Wildlife biologist Shane Briggs said that when wolf packs get too large, some animals leave in search of a mate with whom to start a new pack in a different area, Briggs said. That’s how the species increases its range, he said.

Before the 2004 sighting, wolves were considered extinct in Colorado. The last confirmed one had been killed in 1943.

Wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in 1995.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/25/yellowstone-wolf-travels-1000-miles-colorado/?partner=RSS

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MYSTERIOUS DEATH

Wolf 314F lies under anesthesia after being fitted with a GPS collar on July 1, 2008. The collar has tracked the wolf on an epic journey from Montana to Colorado. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks photo

Suspicion Surrounds Colorado Wolf Death

Did the epic journey of Wolf 341F from Montana to Colorado end at the hands of a human? Officials aren’t saying.

By David Frey, 9-27-09

A wolf that wandered from Montana and died in Colorado earlier this year met its end on a hillside about 24 miles north of Rifle, according to government documents obtained by an environmental organization.

Federal wildlife law enforcement officers continue to investigate the death of a Montana wolf that wandered from Montana and died in Colorado, nearly after a year after the wolf’s carcass was collected, raising speculation that the wolf was killed by a human.

“It’s a good question, but I’m not going to answer it,” says George Morrison, Colorado senior wildlife agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Morrison confirmed the examination of the body, called a necropsy, had been completed, but he said the results would be closed to the public until agents complete their investigation.

“It could be two weeks or as long as a year,” he says. “It’s important to us not to impede the investigation.”

Wildlife officials have refused to divulge specifics about the wolf’s condition or its final whereabouts. But Rob Edward, carnivore recovery director for WildEarth Guardians, said he discovered its final location through an open-records request seeking information about wolves in Colorado. The documents showed the last location of the wolf to be about 24 miles north of the Western Slope town of Rifle, less than two miles west of Highway 13.

“I have believed for the last couple of months that they definitely have a law enforcement angle on this,” Edward said. “Otherwise they would tell you that it died of natural causes.”

Intentionally killing a wolf in Colorado would be a violation of the Endangered Species Act and state statutes that protect endangered species.

Edward described the site as “within rifle distance of a road.” Maps show the location to be what appears to be a scrub-covered hillside in an area known as No Name Ridge, apparently on Bureau of Land Management land just north of a dirt road called Thirteenmile Road.

“That’s the way the wolves from the Northern Rockies are going to come,” Edward said. “What we have to work on is making those lands safer.”

Known as wolf 341F, the 18-month-old female made headlines for making a 1,000-mile journey from the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park to Colorado. Biologists tracked her movements using a GPS unit in a collar fitted to her neck.

Researchers said she was a member of the Mill Creek pack and wandered from the pack’s location between towns of Gardiner and Livingston, Mont., in search of a mate.

She left her pack in September 2008 and took a meandering path through Wyoming, Idaho and Utah to Eagle County. She crossed back into Wyoming, then back into western Colorado where her collar showed she stopped moving. Biologists responded and gathered her carcass to perform a necropsy.

Native wolf populations in Colorado were wiped out by the late 1930s. The last record of a native wolf killed in Colorado was in 1943. In June 2004, a radio-collared wolf from Yellowstone was found killed by a passing motorist on Interstate 70 near Idaho Springs. In 2007, video footage captured an apparent wolf near Walden.

Officials say among Northern Rockies wolves, 26 out of every 100 wolves are killed, almost all of them shot by animal control officers or poachers. Among lone-dispersing wolves like this one, most are hit by cars or illegally killed.

State law does not call for wolf reintroduction, but it does protect wolves that wander into Colorado.

For wolf reintroduction advocates, this wolf’s death highlights a need for more protections.

“They’re not going to come down here and repopulate the area on their own,” Edward said, “especially if they meet that kind of fate.”

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/suspicion_surrounds_colorado_wolf_death/C41/L41/

* It’s been reported that wolf  314F’s number is actually 341F but since she is so well-known as 314F, I didn’t make any changes.

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Top Photo Compound 1080: Courtesy of AGRO

Middle Photo Compound 1080: Courtesy of Predator Defense

314F Photo: Courtesy New West

Posted in: Montana wolves, Wildlife Services War on Wildlife

Tags: 314f, dispersing wolves, wolves in the crossfire, deadly compound 1080, No Name Ridge, Montana, Colorado, Mill Creek Pack