Judge Molloy Rules Against “Settlement”…

Good news Wolf Warriors. Judge Molloy has ruled against the settlement brokered by the ten plaintiffs of the original delisting lawsuit and the USFWS.

From the Wildlife News:

Molloy denies wolf settlement

April 9, 2011 — Ken Cole

Says that the agreement is illegal

http://wolves.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/molloy-denies-wolf-settlement/

Read His Decision:

Judge Molloy’s Ruling

http://wolves.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/order-denying-indicreliefmotion.pdf

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Of course it’s not over yet but this is great news. I never believed Judge Molloy would stay his own decision. The wolves in the Northern Rockies have dodged another bullet. We have the budget battle to fight now but at least we can celebrate today!!

Thank you to the four non-settling groups for standing strong for wolves!! Click on their sites below and show your support!!

Western Watersheds Project

Friends of the Clearwater

Alliance for the Wild Rockies

Humane Society of the United States

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: Judge Molloy, “settlement ruled illegal”, four non-settling groups heroes, wolves win one

Budget bill pending before Congress would remove wolves from endangered list

Confusion reigns. The wolf delisting rider was said to be out of the budget bill  as of yesterday, now today, according to confirmation from Tester and Simpson’s offices, it’s in.

The Daily Reporter states the wolf delisting language is still in the bill. Were they trying to trick us, to get us to back off?  Did they mean there were no policy riders in the short-term deal?

Well we know what we have to do know. Call Congress until our fingers fall off. Let them know how sleazy  you think this entire process is. They made it as complicated as possible to keep Americans in the dark. We had to get conformation from Simpson and Tester to find out if the language is still in the bill? Paul Begala stated on CNN there were no policy riders in the new CR. It was reported in the press that 500 riders were stripped out of the bill. Now they’re back in?????

• MATTHEW BROWN  Associated Press
• First Posted: April 09, 2011 – 12:05 pm

BILLINGS, Mont. — Gray wolves in Montana and Idaho would be taken off the endangered list under the budget bill pending before Congress, two Western lawmakers said.

Inclusion of the language to lift protections for wolves was confirmed by the offices of Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson on Saturday.

http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/ecf20d5f19ab4a10aba13585b3c8accf/MT–Endangered-Wolves-Congress/

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Capital Switchboard Numbers – give the name of the Senator & you will be transferred to their office. You will then either speak to a staff member, or on the weekend – to voice mail.

1,866.220.0044

1.877.851.6437

1.800.833.6354

* CALL THESE SENATORS and express your outrage over the game of chess Congress is playing with wolves lives. The delisting  language must be stripped out of the final bill or wolves are doomed in the Northern Rockies.  First they say there are no riders and now Simpson and Tester’s offices confirm the delisting rider is in the final bill. Disgusting!!

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Washington DC

522 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3542
Fax: 202-224-7327
Toll Free for Nevadans:
1-866-SEN-REID (736-7343)

Barbara Boxer, CA*

Fax: 1-415-956-6701

Max Baucus, MT

Fax: 1-202-224-4700

Thomas Carper, DE

Fax: 1-202-228-2190

Frank Lautenberg, NJ

Fax: 1-202-228-4054

Benjamin Cardin, MD*

Fax: 1-202-224-1651

Bernie Sanders, VT

Fax: 1-202-228-0776

Sheldon Whitehouse, RI

Fax: 1-202-228-6362

Tom Udall, NM*

Fax: 1-202-228-3261

Jeff Merkley, OR*

Fax: 1-202-228-3997

Kristen Gillibrand, NY

Fax: 1-202-228-0282

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“Federal Government Shutdown Averted – Policy Riders Dumped”…

This looks like good news for wolves, it’s being reported the “policy riders” have been dumped from the budget bill. If this holds, it means the Tester wolf delisting rider is gone, along with the other 500 policy riders that were attached to the original budget bill.  BUT are they gone for good?

Attaching delisting language to a budget bill was the easiest way for the anti-wolf crowd to strip wolves out of the ESA. I hope this is the beginning of good news for wolves in the Northern Rockies. It’s been a long, stressful and tiring two years since they were delisted by the Obama administration.

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April 8, 2011

By Chris Prevatt

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama announced late Friday night that a deal on the federal budget has been reached and that “the federal government is open for business.” While the Republicans were able to eek out $38.5 billion in spending reductions for the current fiscal year, the policy riders that had been attached to the budget, including termination of funding for Planned Parenthood and limits on the reach of the EPA, were extricated from the legislation. Congress passed a short-term extension until Thursday, which included $2 billion of the agreed cuts in spending.

http://theliberalca.com/2011/04/08/federal-government-shutdown-averted-policy-riders-dumped/

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Can wolf advocates breathe a sigh of relief for the first time in months? I’ll continue to follow this story and keep you updated. Remember even though a deal was struck it only funds the government thru April 15th.

The bill may be devoid of policy riders now but will they be  inserted back into the final bill? These are all questions we don’t know the answers to yet.

We must be vigilant and keep an eye on the wheeling and dealing. Wolves are not out of the woods yet. The final bill may yet be manipulated to include a wolf delisting rider. Continue to call Senators and let them know we do not want them legislating wolves out of the ESA.

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: budget fight, policy riders dumped?, wolves get a reprieve?, wolf advocates, Congress