The Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals Building, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Pasadena, California.
UPDATE: November 9, 2011
Only the audio is available, the video may be published at a later date. Click on the title link below to listen.
Alliance for the Wild Rockies, et al. v. Ken Salazar, et al.
Thank you to attorneys Jay Tutchton and Rebecca Smith, who represent Alliance For the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians, for doing battle in court for wolves. We appreciate your dedication and effort!! It was inspiring to hear you argue so passionately for wolves in front of the Ninth Circuit Justices, who posed tough question for both sides.
And now we wait!
“Peaceful Pro-Wolf protesters out front of the Pasadena court of appeals”…Mario G.
Wolf Dogs Represent For Their Wild Brothers
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Top Photo: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Bottom Photo: Courtesy Mario G.
Posted in: Wolf Delisting Lawsuit, Wolf Wars
Tags: Watch today’s court proceedings, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, oral arguments, Pasadena, stop brutal wolf hunts, request for emergency injunction
Boulder White Clouds Council
Exposing The Big Game
Footloose Montana
Friends of the Clearwater
Lockwood Animal Rescue Center
Louise du Toit
LUPUSLAETUS
Mercy For Animals
Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance (NIWA)
Predator Friendly®- Because Wildlife Matters
Project Coyote
Project: Wolf
The Nature Conservancy
The Ravensong Group
WildEarth Guardians
Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic-Vote Our Wildlife
Wolf And Wildlife Studies: Jay Mallonee (Independent Wolf Biologist)
Wolf Song of Alaska
Wolves in english ! Les loups en anglais !
WWP's Gray Wolf Page
Yellowstone To Yukon Conservation Initiative
Howling For Justice 
There are many reasons to reverse wolf delisting from the Endangered Species List. These include the following: (1) Tested, workable alternatives (to killing) are available for addressing wolf-livestock issues. (2) Leghold traps cause unspeakable suffering, and bloody deaths by shooting do not neutralize humanitarian concerns related to pain and suffering. (3) Wolves live in loyal, intact families that suffer emotional and survival consequences when an adult family member never returns. (4) The wolf population is in an emergent stabilization process that remains tenative and frail.
I urge your reconsideration of wolf delisting relative to these factors and hope that those who reside where wolves have been reintroduced practice the view that man is not the lord of the earth but is, instead, its keeper.
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Dr. Beth Wright…everything you said makes perfect sense but we’re not dealing with people that are interested in facts. Take note of the groups that are intervenors in the wolf delisting appeal for the anti wolf side. The Safari Club, The NRA, etc. They want to hunt wolves and aren’t interested in trophic cascades or the importance of apex predators. I can only hope the judges will right this wrong and stop the hunts before it’s too late for the wolves.. It will be a hollow victory indeed if they rule in favor of the unconstitutionality of the wolf rider and there are no wolves left to save.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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There are many reasons to reverse wolf delisting from the Endangered Species List. These include the following: (1) Tested, workable alternatives (to killing) are available for addressing wolf-livestock issues. (2) Leghold traps cause unspeakable suffering, and bloody deaths by shooting do not neutralize humanitarian concerns related to pain and suffering. (3) Wolves live in loyal, intact families that suffer emotional and survival consequences when an adult family member never returns. (4) The wolf population is in an emergent stabilization process that remains tentative and frail.
I urge your reconsideration of wolf delisting relative to these factors and hope that those who reside where wolves have been reintroduced practice the view that man is not the lord of the earth but is, instead, its keeper.
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Please post my comments.
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Looking forward to seeing/hearing the arguments. Thank You Nabeki.
Are you in Pasadena?
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You are welcome ramses.
No I live in wolf country. Not hearing many howls these days ):
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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I’m sorry that you are not hearing the howl of the wolves.
I have never had the pleasure of hearing that. I would love
to hear that someday. But, if these idiots keep on killing them
all, I probably won’t get that chance.
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“Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead recently struck a deal with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that could allow wolf hunting in that state as early as next year.”
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/idaho-and-montana-state-wolf-hunts-head-to-court.html#ixzz1dDBwlHWt
Anyone know anything bout this????? This is the 1st I have heard about this. Anything in print (paper,internet)
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Oh yes they’ve been working on this for quite some time. And yes they are going to allow hunting in a tiny buffer zone around Yellowstone but in most of the state it will be shoot-on-sight. That means they can run a wolf over with a snowmobile, blow it up or anything their sick little minds can come up with. They will be predator status and their lives will be worth less then nothing. We have to start rally the troops for a big letter writing campaign, boycott of Yellowstone and the entire state of Wyoming. Grand Teton National Park is NOT happy about this, because their park is small and the wolves routinely cross park boundaries, their will be in grave danger..
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I was at the court hearing for the wolves but I arrived too late to go in. I didn’t want to interrupt anything so I hung out until everyone came out. Was so nervous I had dry mouth the whole time. I hope everything goes in our favor for the wolves.
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Justin, did you listen to the arguments on audio today?
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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The woman judge sounds clueless… to me. Jay had quite a battle on his hands. HOw hard is it to accept a rider is not law?
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I was concerned about that as well g. Jay and Rebecca barely had time to make their arguments although to be fair the other side was questioned extensively as well. I hate that the issue turns on the constitutionality of the wolf rider. when Irreparable harm is being done to the wolf population as we speak and yet it seemed somehow that was all lost in the minutia of legalize. As for wolves being relisted if “they crashed”, as the intervenor attorney stated, that is bs because Idaho want to wipe out most of their wolves down to 150 or 100, I would call that crashing or lets just call it what it is, slaughter. It’s USFWS’s fault that the ridiculous “management plan”, created in the nineties to placate the ranchers, was never udated. 10 breeding pairs per state and 100 wolves? That’s just tokenism. Those wolves, what’s left of them, will be so traumatized and stressed out they’ll never be normal. They’ll be tortured souls we brought back to keep in an endless cycle of pain and hurt. I wish they had never been reintroduced. If I knew then what I know now I would have opposed it.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Nabeki, I want the wolves to be protected, but I also worry that if wolves are relisted, people will take matters into their own hands and start killing wolves whichever way they can. What are your personal thoughts on this and others on here, the same questioned is asked to you as well.
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People break every law on the books … even murder of humans still happens, despite being illegal and carrying stiff penalties. I think that in most cases, it’s better to base our laws and regulations on what is right than on what we are capable of enforcing. At least putting wolves back on the ESA would send a message that this country cares about protecting them. And the threat of getting caught will deter at least some people from illegal acts, including poaching. It’s tough to catch poachers, but it does happen. Some of the people who claim that they are going to kill wolves illegally probably mean it, but for others, I think it’s just braggadocio. On top of that, poaching is most likely going to happen even if hunting wolves remains legal. The extreme anti-wolf people are not satisfied that it’s legal to kill up to 220 wolves in Montana. They want more, more, more. Here’s a lovely quote from Toby for you:
“To hell with buying a tag … use that $19 to load up on another box or two of ammo. And eliminate every wolf you get a chance to shoot … and just leave the area. Then go kill some more somewhere else.”
Consider the Mexican wolves also. They were given an “experimental, nonessential” designation, just like the reintroduced wolves here. That designation, which gave the government more leeway to “control” them, was supposed to increase public acceptance. The Mexican wolf population was also quite a bit smaller than our wolf population here. A whole bunch of them got poached anyway. And Wuerthner suggests that hunting wolves may disrupt packs and lead to increased livestock predation, compounding the problems with wolf intolerance. I don’t know of any hard evidence that leaving wolves unprotected will reduce the death toll … I think it’s more likely to make things worse.
There’s another issue here, too — I think I speak for many on this blog when I say that my ultimate desire is to end frivolous sport hunting. If we hesitate to push for stricter protections because we fear a backlash, then sport hunting will remain institutionalized as long as people feel like doing it. Has any other great movement gotten anywhere by worrying about the opposition’s reaction?
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That was an excellent critique cs. I can’t understand how Bridges gets away with those statements? Isn’t that incitement? What if the pro-wolf advocates made those outrageous statements? It’s mind boggling.
And yes you are right, hunting wolves does not increase social tolerance, in fact quite the opposite. Haven’t you noticed how blatant the wolf haters are since wolves were delisted? Wyoming is pushing forward with unregulated killing of their hapless wolves in most of the state. And now Idaho is making noises that if Wyoming can do it then why can’t they? Is this the great protection wolves can expect if their numbers “crash”. Shooting wolves on site, practically at the door of one of the most magnificent state parks, Yellowstone, is what we now describe as tolerance of wolves?
The Safari Club wants wolves delisted because they are trophy hunters and want to hunt trophies. We do have to go after the underlying sickness and that is trophy hunting.
Wolves can never be without the protection of the ESA if we want a vibrant, healthy wolf population because the wolf haters will not stop until every last wolf is dead.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Personally Jon I don’t worry about what the other side does or doesn’t do. They are far more dangerous now and full of bravado, thinking they’ve won and the wolves have been delivered to them on a silver platter. I want wolves relisted and NEVER hunted, they don’t need to be hunted. WS kills hundreds of wolves every year, poachers kill many more, wolves are shot by ranchers, run over by cars and generally just disappear (SSS). Wolves are too persecuted to be without the protection of the ESA. That is the mistake USFWS made and is making. They didn’t consider societal values when recommending wolves recovered. Wolves will never be recovered because the wolf haters who live in the Northern Rockies will continue to stir up trouble and demonize wolves. Have you noticed all these anecdotal stories about wolves charging people and fearful of their kids at bus stops? Where is the proof of any of this? Yet a little kid gets shot in the leg by a hunter at a bus stop and it barely makes the news.
I’m angry and fed up with the way wolves are being treated and it needs to stop.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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I don’t know if anyone is aware of this, but in Montana, hunters can shoot wolves and leave them there to rot because of the so called dangers of the tapeworms that wolves carry. They can take the head I believe and the leave the rest of the body there to rot.
http://helenair.com/lifestyles/recreation/disrespecting-wildlife-law-allowing-wolves-to-be-wasted-is-a/article_9690a0d4-0b70-11e1-950d-001cc4c03286.html
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100% in agreement with everything you said. Hunters are more dangerous than wolves. Did you hear the story about a hunter in OR shooting a marine he thought was a bear? Trapping in Idaho starts in 5 days. These people seem to care more about hunters killing wolves than public safety issues such as people’s pets being caught in the traps.
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We were there yesterday also. For future info, as long as you are quiet and respectful, you can enter or leave the court anytime, as an observer. Don’t worry if you are late. And if they are overfilled they have an overflow room with a monitor in case of a a big turn out. If you are unsure, you can ask the security people who were extremely helpful and courteous to newcomers.
It was good to meet others who cared enough to travel so far, and who were peaceful and sincere. We also met those who were interested in the law, and are writing about this case.
We pray for the court’s wisdom and vision…without delay. Perhaps the greatest good so far was the physical meeting of those who care about the wolves and all of threatened nature. The greatest power will be in visibly uniting, using all of our talents and energy, and getting our country’s elected officials to work for us and not for ranchers/trophy hunters and hunting industries ,and the politicians who serve THEM.
I did not see any mainstream coverage of this event in the media…Did anyone else?
It seems that alleviation of these crimes against nature depends a lot upon fine points of language and law, and the clarification of laws, and knowing how to play this tragic chess game of life and death.
Avenues for uniting more fully are coming. And that is what will speak loudly to those whom we elect, and the industries that we support through purchases and travel (why boycotts could prove powerful.) It should be clear to everyone how we can boycott ranching and their products.
Let us continue to make it clear to our gov’t and special interests that we do not want to be a soul-less, parasitic,violent people.
I am inspired by each of you. Thank you Nabeki for this extremely important blog and effort.
So glad to meet many of you who attended yesterday!
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SOME WOLF WARRIORS (like me) WE WAIT NEWS FROM EUROPA, TOO. MY GOD,GOOD NEWS…I’M LIVING IN FRANCE AND I DIDN’T SLEEP TONIGHT. I CHECK AND CHECK NABEKI…BUT NOTHING FOR THE MOMENT. YES, THANK YOU NABEKI FOR ALL YOUR EFFORT, FOR YOUR FANTASTIC WORK. WE WILL ALWAYS WITH YOU FOR SAVE WOLVES,ALWAYS!!!
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I’m on pins and needles too Agnes. I hope the judges will rule soon and in our favor. The waiting is the hardest part. And your welcome, I do this because it’s my passion, just like it is yours, it never feels like work to me.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Remember to boycott The Idaho Potato and all products from ID, MT, & WY.
Remember to avoid going to or spending money in ID, MT, or WY.
Remember to vote against all the Congresspeople who voted to kill wolves.
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Did you hear the good news about the Keystone XL pipeline. Obama is looking for alternatives…due to pressure from those concerned about the environment and wildlife. Let us take note!!!
Peaceful demonstrations in masse…people speaking out united. Let us do this for the wolves and win back the truly wild WEST from the outlaw interests…let us win it for the wolves and other predators, and the wild horses and burros and bison …even the prarie dogs who are sucked out of their holes for the greedy ranchers!
We attended the Pasadena court…the Biological Diversity lawyer who presented was Amy Atwood. I wrote directly to hear asking when to expect the outcome. She said that they did not request an emergency injunction since the appeal was happening quickly by court standards…they wanted the surest chance for protection…to win this case. They have had no word yet and she couldn’t give us an estimated time to expect the outcome.
Let us hope with the positivity we are feeling with the pipeline that there will be a wave of unity and renewed vigor in our fight for the wolves.
I wrote and thanked Obama for reconsideration of the pipeline…for hearing the people…for having courage to stand up against big oil. I pleaded with him to also stand up to the ranching and hunting industries…and reclaim our power as a democracy, not an aristocracy…not serving those who jeopardise what is most precious and essential.
We must continue our calls to politicians, and let them know where we stand, united.
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jon regarding your comment – I haven’t heard that, but that;s not surprising to me. I would imagine unless you have the cash flow to get the whole wolf done by a taxidermist, what would you do with a dead wolf???? You can’t eat it, I guess in the hunters SICK mind you can use it’s skin for something. Bottom line is that they want wolves dead, dead, dead. They don’t want them ANYWHERE AROUND.
It’s as simple as that. That is the mind set of of a simple minded stupid ass hunter.
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I read something last night from a 2008 book on Yellowstone Wolves/ Cat Urbigkit and husband a lawyer husband/wife team who want/wanted to ‘preserve integrity of local species’, and who write from a very complex in fighters position on local species versus translocated gray wolves. They’re talking about Wyoming. Urbigkit offers lots of criticism of FWS and plenty of empathy for ranchers who are nevertheless feedlot feeding elk over winter to keep no.s up for hunters thereby habituating wolves to their range, and who leave out poisoned stock (no mention in book) graze on public land, but speak at congressional hearings with tears in their eyes for lost profits, while every year millions of cows in three states die from disease especially on finishing feed lots (that’s lifestyle for cows) not mentioned, nor that in general, ranchers who want to preserve their lifestyle (nostalgia for the range rider/great open spaces now empty of all but cows/mythos) want no responsibility in tending their stock. (that’s their lifestyle) and so make no move to electric fencing. It works in Alberta/Sheep Growers Association loves it.
I can and will verify first of the week through a contact online but if anyone knows about reimbursement tied to delisting/trophy hunting status please post, that is, if Wyoming ranchers are reimbursed for wolf takes (only) when wolves are delisted and designated as trophy game. And is that true of Idaho and Montana?
…pg 310..With delisting wolves in northwestern Wyoming are managed by state officials as a trophy game species. That means WGF will manage wolves as a huntable species, respond to livestock conflicts, and proved for compensation in areas where wolves are designated as trophy game.
CMM
For the Wolves
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