Wyoming Wants “Unregulated Killing” Of Wolves In Most of the State….Speak Out!!!

We are witnessing a repeat of the first Western wolf extermination. The ranching and hunting lobbies teamed up with Congress and the Interior Department, headed by rancher Ken Salazar.  Wyoming wants  “unregulated killing” of wolves in most of the state.  Of course this is nothing new, it’s been their position all along. It’s what won the delisting lawsuit because the USFWS rejected Wyoming’s radical stance on wolves.  But that has all changed.

The Governor of Wyoming, USFWS and Ken Salazar reached a  “deal” on wolves. The main “stakeholders” (being the anti-wolf and ranching interests) got to have their say, with conservationists being mostly excluded.

Apparently the opinion of the majority of Americans who support wolves and the ESA doesn’t matter. Please speak up for Wyoming’s wolves!!! They are voiceless!!

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Mead, top federal officials agree ‘in principle’ to wolf deal

By JEREMY PELZER Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Thursday, July 7, 2011 1:14 pm

CHEYENNE-Wyoming and the federal government have reached “an agreement in principle” on a deal to remove the state’s roughly 340 wolves from the endangered species list and put them under state control.

Following a meeting at the Wyoming State Capitol on Thursday, Gov. Matt Mead, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe said they hoped to reach a deal by the end of the month and ratify it by the end of September.

Wyoming has been fighting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for years to accept the state’s wolf management plan, which allows unregulated killing of the animals in all but the northwest corner of the state. Fish and Wildlife, on the other hand, wants wolves to be classified as “trophy game” throughout the state, meaning they could only be hunted with a license.

The three said they agreed on a deal under which Wyoming would be required to maintain 100 wolves, including 10 breeding pairs, outside Yellowstone National Park. That’s about a third of current wolf numbers outside Yellowstone, Mead said.

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_c54c1882-a8cd-11e0-9399-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1RVGHIBlg

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USFWS

Wolf Issue Comment Line

1-800-344-wild.

Mailing Address:
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240

Phone: (202) 208-3100
E-Mail: feedback@ios.doi.gov
Web: Feedback form

http://www.doi.gov/public/contact-us.cfm

USFWS Director Dan Ashe

Phone: (202)-208-4717

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Wyoming Governor Matt Meade

By Mail:
State Capitol, 200 West 24th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0010

By Phone or Fax:
307.777.7434 (phone)
307.632.3909 (fax)

By Email:

http://governor.wy.gov/contactus/Pages/default.aspx

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Wyoming Office of Tourism

http://wyomingofficeoftourism.gov/

Sample Letter to Wyoming Office of  Tourism

Dear…….

As much as I enjoy the beauty of Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, the Bridger Teton National Forest, the Bighorn Mountains and the many other natural wonders your state has to offer, I cannot in good conscience consider Wyoming as a tourist destination due to the states policy concerning  gray wolves.

It has come to my attention that Wyoming wants “unregulated killing of wolves in all but the Northwest corner of the state”.  This is something I find abhorrent and morally wrong. Wolves are apex predators, vital to healthy ecosystems. They were reintroduced back into Wyoming in 1995,  at great cost of time and expense,  because they had been exterminated in the West by federal trappers. I see the same pattern of scapegoating and persecution developing, that caused the first extermination.

For these reasons I nor my family will consider visiting Wyoming or spend money in the state if you adopt this brutal policy concerning gray wolves.  Americans overwhelmingly support wolves. They generate millions of dollars to the GYA because people want to view wolves in the wild.

These animals are a national treasure and belong to ALL Americans not just  ranchers and hunters, who may have the ear of  Western politicians, interested in pandering to special interests.

If and when Wyoming decides to change its policy toward gray wolves,  I will once again be happy to visit your beautiful state.

Sincerely, ……..

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Photo: Courtesy IWallpaper.com

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Wyoming Wolves, Animal Cruelty

Tags: war on wolves, Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, Matt Mead, USFWS, Ken Salazar, US Dept of the Interior