They Want Their Wolf Hunts And They Want Them Now!!

Just like two-year olds, who don’t know the meaning of the word no, Montana and Idaho have petitioned the feds to HUNT  endangered wolves, which they say is allowed under the ESA. Fat chance. Oh yes, the ESA has a little clause somewhere that allows fish and game agencies to hunt endangered animals. I wonder how long their attorneys dug around looking for that little gem? Who are they kidding?

Montana wants to slaughter 186 out of 500 wolves and Idaho wants to kill 50 wolves who “are eating all their elk”. Are these people nuts? Seriously, I’m starting to wonder what the heck is going on at the fish and game agencies.

Judge Molloy JUST relisted gray wolves in the Northern Rockies on August 5, 2010 and barely two months later Montana and Idaho want to go forward with their hunting plans. I guess the lawsuit was just a joke. Of course we can hunt animals protected under the ESA, didn’t you read the fine print?

What the heck is a conservation hunt anyway? Who are they conserving? It’s certainly not wolves. It’s the “Hunt Wolves to Save Wolves” mentality over there at Montana for Hunting and Cattle. Seriously, if the USFWS even thinks of approving this abomination, I can’t imagine there won’t be a lawsuit almost immediately. What did we win this victory for, so the states could just go ahead and start killing wolves anyway? And don’t forget Wildlife Services are busy little bees killing wolves for agribusiness. 

Is anyone as fed up with these continual wolf killing schemes as I am?

The irony is a study just came out stating the planned hunts, that Montana now wants to go forward with, are actually damaging to the wolf population in the Northern Rockies. What a shock. Did anyone doubt that 500 wolves dying in the Northern Rockies last year was devastating to wolves?

Scientists: Wolf Hunts More Deadly Than Previously Thought

by Virginia Morell on 29 September 2010, 8:00 PM

“A policy to sustainably manage gray wolves via recreational hunting appears to rely on faulty ecological science, says a new paper published today in PLoS ONE. The paper challenges a long-held assumption that gray wolf populations won’t be decimated by hunting and predator-control programs. It has been believed up till now that such efforts can remove as many as 28% to 50% of the animals in a population without causing long-term harm to their numbers.”

Further they state:

“It’s unprecedented for a species to move directly from the endangered species list to a harvest of this magnitude,” Creel says. “And, when combined with the predator-control programs, the data suggest the effect will be larger than previously thought.” Northern Rocky Mountains wolf packs may be more susceptible to being harmed by hunting because they are generally small, with few adult members. It’s thus more likely that any wolf killed in a hunt will be a breeding adult. When a pack loses its breeding adults, it is apt to fall apart.”

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/09/scientists-wolf-hunts-more-deadl.html

Finally, a study to prove what I said back in July, you can’t slaughter 186 wolves in a Montana hunt and have WS come along and kill another 145 wolves, as they did last year and have a thriving healthy wolf population. Now there is finally scientific proof. But I’m sure the state game agencies will ignore it and forge ahead.

I have to tell you I went to one of Montana for Hunting and Ranching meetings, on wolf quotas, before wolves were relisted and they were thrilled about having another wolf hunt. Thats all they talked about.  They were asking people in the audience, “Who killed a wolf last year?” And blah, blah, blah interest is up from out-of-state hunters who want to come to Montana to kill wolves. 

Someone in the audience asked, why are you killing wolves, since they account for just one percent or less of livestock losses and there are 150,00 elk in Montana? Whoever was leading the meeting (I have no idea what his name was) said,  “BECAUSE WE CAN“. That’s it people, BECAUSE WE CAN. It’s not about cows, it’s not about elk. It’s about “BECAUSE WE CAN“. Well someone told them on August 5th, 2010, NO YOU CAN’T!!

I guess they didn’t read Judge Molloy’s ruling! Lord, when will this madness ever end?

At least one positive has come out of this. Montana and Idaho have shown their true colors. They just want to kill wolves and they will do anything to please their hunting and ranching lobbies. Montana will try to push a ridiculous “conservation hunt” past the ESA and Idaho is not even listening to their own study that said wolves are not responsible for prey declines. like they’ve been accused of. Get this, the study actually said human hunters are contributing to prey declines in Idaho. OMG, stop the presses, I would never have guessed.

From the Times News, Magicvalley.com:

“……the report showed that hunters were the biggest cause of elk kills in two other areas with declining populations: the Pioneer zone east of Ketchum, and Island Park near Rexburg. In the Island Park zone, hunters killed 17 percent of collared elk while wolves killed none.”

But of course Idaho continues to complain about the Lolo and use that excuse to kill wolves. They’re going to keep wolf numbers low there for the next five years to “save the elk” Elk have been in decline in the Lolo for decades, long before wolves ever showed up and they know it.

“……deteriorating habitat in the Lolo zone has contributed to declining elk numbers since at least 1988, before wolves entered the picture. The population dropped by 40 percent during the severe winter of 1996-97 alone. Bears and cougars also kill many elk. Just across the border, Montana biologists are starting a similar collaring study in Ravalli County, where one factor of elk decline may be high human population growth.

I think they also forgot the ‘prey decline” issue is being litigated in front of Judge Molloy. Environmentalists want “prey declines”stricken from the 10j rule, which was added in 2008 as a way to kill more wolves and tighten the feds control over them.  Prior to that they could only kill wolves for depredations.  But facts are pesky things. They get in the way of agendas.

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Montana, Idaho send wolf hunting plans to feds

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press Writer Matthew Brown, Associated Press Writer – Mon Sep 27, 5:41 pm ET

BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana officials are seeking federal approval to kill 186 endangered gray wolves in a special “conservation hunt,” while neighboring Idaho wants permission to kill up to 50 of the predators that officials say are eating too many elk.

Documents released Monday detailed the states’ new plans to kill wolves despite a court ruling that restored their endangered species status.

Wildlife managers say the Aug. 5 ruling from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy did not account for the growing impact of wolves on livestock and big game herds across the Northern Rockies.

In separate applications filed over the last two weeks with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho and Montana said their plans to kill wolves were permissible under the Endangered Species Act.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100927/ap_on_re_us/us_endangered_wolves_hunt

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MSU study: Hunt would cut Montana wolf population in half

Thursday, September 30, 2010 5:45 am

http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_0872b31a-cc37-11df-9859-001cc4c03286.html

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: circumventing the ESA, conservation hunts a joke, prey declines being litigated, stop killing wolves, USFWS