Wolf Slaughter Continues in the Rocky Mountains by James William Gibson (Earth Island Journal)

Hunters operating just west of Yellowstone National Park killed seven radio-collared wolves from
October through December, including the famous, often photographed 832F, the majestic female
alpha of the Lamar Canyon pack. Photo Flickr/CC BY 2.0 Earth Island Journal

January 31, 2013

Fantasies of killing become increasingly bizarre

Lynne Stone, longtime wolf advocate and executive director of Northern Idaho’s Boulder White Cloud Council in Ketchum, couldn’t help but laugh. For the last two years she has routinely petitioned the Idaho Dept of Fish and Game for every single “ Big Game Mortality Report” filed on wolves killed by hunters —several hundred of them since the animals lost Endangered Species Act protect. Hunters and trappers are required to send in the report along with the skull and pelt for examination. In mid-January Stone ran across a November 2012 report that stated, “DNA came back as a domestic dog,” a light-skinned one.

“Buy a wolf tag, shoot a dog, claim it was a wolf, get bragging rights and a dog-skin rug,” she chuckled “Life is wonderful in 3rd world Idaho. Is anyone missing a light-colored mutt? Maybe it’s time folks put orange vests and hats on their dogs.”

Gallows humor is all wolf supporters have left. In February 2011, Congress removed gray wolves in the northern Rockies from protection by the Endangered Species Act, the first time a species has ever been delisted for political reasons. Before that, the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s reintroduction of wolves to the northern Rockies in the mid-1990s appeared to be one of the greatest conservation successes in decades. Wolves had been killed off in the West in the late nineteenth and early centuries. But while tourists from all over the country came to Yellowstone in hopes of seeing “Cinderella” or “Limpy” — many of the wolves became named — in the Rockies a reactionary political movement developed against the animals.

Click HERE To Read More

===

Photo:  Courtesy Earth Island Journal ( Photo Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: Earth Island Journal, James William Gibson, Lynne Stone, Friends of the Clearwater, Brett Haverstick,Wolf Wars, right-wing crazies, wolf delisting political, wolf slaughter, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, O6 Female killed, Wolf delisting rider, Jon Tester D-MT

TAKE ACTION: Contact Montana Governor Bullock Concerning Wolf Killing House Bill 73

January 29, 2013

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I hold that the more helpless a creature the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of humankind.
— Mahatma Ghandi

We have doomed the wolf not for what it is but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be: the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer — which is, in reality, not more than the reflected image of ourselves. We have made it the scapewolf for our own sins.
— Farley Mowat, from the preface of the 1993 edition of his book, Never Cry Wolf

Montana is a big and beautiful state in the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States. But… during the past two years this big and beautiful state has allowed a small number of its citizens, and others from outside the state, to persecute and kill over 300 innocent and ecologically vital wolves that lived within the state. In 2011, Montana’s own Division of Fish, Wildlife and Parks estimated the total wolf population there to be about 550 wolves.

When will the persecution and killing of these vital, innocent and beautiful wolves end? When will the humane American majority, including the many voices of humane, respectful and wildlife-loving Montanans, be heard above the brutal and heartless voices of cattlemen, animal abusers and sport killers?

There is a glimmer of hope, of positive change for wolves in Montana, and for all of us who respect and admire wolves and want them protected. Montana has a new Governor, Steve Bullock, who campaigned with reason and decency. He did not pander to the wolf haters and kept an open door to the many wolf defenders who met him.

Now, Governor Bullock quickly has the opportunity to demonstrate that he is indeed a man and a leader who respects ecology, healthy ecosystems and the importance of natural predators, including wolves.

The Montana House of Representatives just passed House Bill 73, that is intended to accelerate the torture and massacre of the remaining wolves in Montana. This wicked legislation would allow each sport killer to kill more wolves, reduce the cost of out of state licenses to kill wolves, allow sport killers to use electronic calls of wolf pups in distress, allow killing of wolves on the perimeter of Yellowstone National Park with no buffer zone and on and on.

The facts speak for themselves:
There are approximately 2,500,000 cattle in Montana. In 2011, just 74 cattle were confirmed to be taken by wolves. 74 out of 2,500,000. That tiny tiny number is statistically zero. But, pathetic cattlemen continue to spread hysterical lies about wolves killing their  non-native cattle in numbers too numerous to count. These same cattlemen rely on the ignorance and apathy of the general public and the media, so they can continue their demonetization and slaughter of America’s native wolves and coyotes and mountain lions and bison and wild horses and prairie dogs and anything else that moves.

As for elk, the principle prey of wolves in the Rockies, Montana had 90,000 elk before wolves returned to their native homeland in Montana. Today with wolves back on the land, the state of Montana estimates the current elk population at 140,000. More wolves equals  more elk and the elk are much healthier now that wolves are keeping them on their toes, just as nature intended.

Wolves are vital, innocent, highly social, intelligent and family-oriented beings. It is humans that are the mass killers of wolves and every other animal they can shoot, trap, poison and destroy. It is ignorant and violent humans who must be managed and restrained, and who must finally learn to live on this Earth respectfully and with compassion for non-human beings who have as much right as humans to live and prosper across the planet we share.
_________________________________

This week’s WOLF DEFENDER ACTION is to contact Montana’s new Governor, Steve Bullock. Please be respectful and polite. Gov. Bullock is brand new to his position and has taken no action to hurt wolves.

Ask Governor Bullock to put an end to the persecution and massacre of wolves in Montana. Ask him to veto Montana House Bill 73. Ask the governor to be the first governor in the Rocky Mountains to show compassion, decency and respect for living wolves, in Montana and throughout the Rockies. Ask Gov. Bullock to acknowledge the indispensable and positive role, wolves and every other natural predator performs in every healthy ecosystem. Ask him to protect America’s wolves.

Here are three ways to contact Governor Steve Bullock:
(Please be polite and respectful and consider doing all three. I was told he reads letters that are mailed to him directly.) 

1. By Phone: 1-406-444-3111
2. By EMail:   governor@mt.gov
3. By US Mail:
Governor Steve Bullock 
Office of the Governor 
PO Box 200801 
Helena, Montana 59620

Thank you, for Montana’s and America’s ecologically vital and beautiful wolves,

Robert Goldman
Protect America’s Wolves!
http://signon.org/sign/protect-americas-wolves

===

Montana Seeks More Aggressive Wolf Hunting

January 29, 2013

Even as Wyoming’s wolf management policies are under fire in the courts again, a bill that would prevent the closure of wolf hunt areas near Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks before the quota is reached, allow multiple wolf licenses and generally expand wolf hunting in Montana has been unanimously approved in the Montana House of Representatives and now moves on to the Montana Senate for consideration there.  The bill would allow hunters to purchase more than one wolf tag and use electronic calls to lure the animals. It also reduces the price of a nonresident wolf license from $350 to $50.

http://jacksonholeradio.com/?p=12486

===

HOUSE BILL NO. 73

INTRODUCED BY K. FLYNN, T. WASHBURN

BY REQUEST OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FISH, WILDLIFE, AND PARKS

Click HERE To READ

===

Photo: Flickr Commons

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Montana wolves

Tags: MT. war on wolves, HB 73, K. Flynn, T. Washburn, Montana FWP, Montana Governor Bullock

‘Let the Wolves run free’ by Ratty and the Watchers

Your amber eyes and coat of ashes,
I see sorrow in your face,
With the pain the young one thrashes,
a trophy for the human race,
Hunted down I feel the heartache,
from ancient dens the wolves must flee,
Misunderstood beliefs we must break,
education is the key.

I saw a pack when in full flight,
Brothers / sisters chasing starlight,
Their hearts are yearning to be free of our world.

In the night an Alpha male howls,
it’s a song of such beauty,
All they hear is Hollywood growls,
and not the call to his family,
Never safe on the lonely mountain,
the guns are heard in the deep valley,
Another notch on the butt of a rifle,
a cub added to the death tally.

Shadows dancing on moonlit skies,
Leave them be don’t wave them goodbye,
All they want is to be free of our world.

Look in his face, Look in his eyes, there’s only grace, there’s no disguise
Look at their life, what do you see, don’t give them strife, let them run free,
Let the Wolves run free!!

===

Video: YouTube Ratty and the Watchers

Photo: Wolves Howling on Lake, Courtesy Jim Brandenburg

Posted in: gray wolves, biodiversity

Tags: biodiversity, gray wolf, Let the Wolves Run Free,  Ratty and the Watchers

Another Senseless Killing, Yearling Wolf, OR 16 Slain For Nothing…

Yearling Wolf OR-16, a member of Oregon’s Walla Walla pack , was slain  Saturday, January 19 , 2013 in the bloody Idaho wolf hunt

January 25, 2013

Here’s a convo from an anti-wolf Facebook page laughing about  OR-16’s death. This is what they find funny, the death of a yearling wolf.

Too bad it didn’t get shot. So much for the whole family thing the wolf humpers claim.

  Larry O.
    Hopefully he will stay in Idaho long enough to get angel wings. With that black hide he will make a great rug.

    Bill K
    If us pushing that wolf back over to be shot in idaho works.. we willc ontinue to push many more back for the shooters. hell we will even pay for the ammo. ha ha ha ha.

===

I might as well be a funeral director, that’s all I seem to be doing is reporting on dead wolves.

OR-16, a beautiful black yearling Oregon wolf, who made the terrible mistake of crossing the Snake River into the killing fields of Idaho, was slaughtered  for nothing last Saturday in the deadly Idaho wolf hunt. There was talk that he and other collared Oregon wolves were being targeted.  I remember reading a convo between wolf haters  stating the plan was to try and shuttle as many Oregon wolves into Idaho as possible (wish I could find the quote, I’d gladly post it here.) That’s the mind-set we’re dealing with. Shame on the federal government for turning these wolves over to their mortal enemies to be tortured and killed.

I don’t know about you but I’ve had enough of this insanity. I’m not planning on sitting on my hands this year and watching the carnage continue. Enough is enough. The wolf killers are rubbing our faces in it  but their hubris will be their downfall because wolf advocates are more upset than I’ve ever seen them.

The anti wolf crowd thinks they hold all the cards but they forget they are the minority and we are the majority. It’s just a matter of waking up the sleeping masses. The killing of collared wolves, who many people identify with,  is mobilizing the troops. The killing of Yellowstone’s Lamar Canyon alpha female O6 and her beta male 754 and many other collared  wolves, including  OR-9, brother to famous wolf OR-7 and now OR-16,  has people hopping mad. Not because these wolves are more important than the almost 1000 wolves who’ve been slaughtered since August 30, 2012 but because they are well-known, have numbers and have been written about. People identify with them and their deaths are sparking outrage.  The pro-wolf movement is ready to stand and fight.

Rest in Peace OR-16, beautiful boy. You were just a yearling, never having a chance to live your life. But you will not be forgotten. This is a rallying cry to all who love wolves. The time for lamenting is over. It’s time to take action and work to see wolves relisted.  For all who are frustrated with the ineffective actions of the past, several other wolf advocates and myself are  plotting a new path, one we hope will change the dynamic of this fight.

For the wolves, For OR-16,

Nabeki

===

Oregon Wolf Gunned Down in Idaho

Oregon conservationists lament killing, highlight contrasting approaches to wolf management and wildlife conservation.

http://www.oregonwild.org/about/press-room/press-releases/oregon-wolf-gunned-down-in-idaho

===

Second Oregon wolf killed in Idaho by hunter

By Richard Cockle, The Oregonian
January 24, 2013 at 6:46 PM, updated January 24, 2013 at 7:12 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/01/second_oregon_wolf_killed_in_i.html

===

Photo: Courtesy ODFW

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Oregon Wolves,

Tags: Bloody Idaho wolf hunt, OR !6, Walla Walla pack , Oregon wolves, wolf slaughter, relist wolves, Endangered Species act. wolves need protection, killing out of control, states cannot manage wolves, conflict of interest, trophy hunting sadistic

Raul Grijalva For Interior Secretary

Tell President Obama: Appoint Raul Grijalva US Interior Secretary

A Champion For Our Public Lands. Protecting Our National Treasures. A Bold Leader.

For Secretary of Interior, the choice is clear. President Obama should appoint Rep. Raul Grijalva. He’s a bold leader and a champion of our public lands who will protect our natural treasures, including American wild horses and burros, for generations to come.

Dear President Obama,

Your choice for the next Secretary of the Interior will determine the future of our public lands and their natural resources, including wild horses and burros.The individual you appoint must reflect the ideals that you campaigned upon and that so many of us supported.

The person best qualified to represent these ideals and move the Interior Department forward is Rep. Raul Grijalva, Congressman from Arizona’s Third Congressional District.

Rep. Grijalva has spent his entire career standing up to special interests and for American taxpayers and the preservation of our natural resources. As the top Democrat on the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands since 2007, he has been an outspoken advocate for conservation. He has also been a leader in the fight to reform the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) costly and inhumane wild horse and burro program.

As Interior Secretary, Rep. Grijalva will hold the BLM accountable, and he will stop the government giveaway of public resources to commercial interests that exploit our public lands.

Please nominate Rep. Raul Grijalva as the 51st Secretary of the Interior. He is clearly the best choice to protect and preserve our public lands and our natural heritage, including America’s treasured wild horses and burros.

Sincerely,

===

PLEASE ClICK HERE TO SIGN PETITION

===

Petition credit given to: www.wildhorsepreservation.org

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Howling For Justice

Tags: Wild Horse Preservation dot org, Appoint Raul Grijalva, Secretary of the Interior, biodiversity, gray wolves, wild horses, President Obama

Golden Eyes..

I want to share a beautiful song by Robert Schmidt, his tribute to the suffering, majestic wolves.

He writes:

This song and video was inspired by the cruel inhumane slaughter of wolves across the U.S.

Humans were created to care for the earth and it’s creatures, not kill for the sake of killing.

Thank you so much Robert! I can’t listen to goldeneyes without tears welling up.

Please share Robert’s moving ode to the wolves far and wide!

For the wolves, For the wild ones,

Nabeki

===

Video:  YouTube/goldeneyes by Robert T. Schmidt

Photo: Courtesy of  Ann Sydow and Wolf People

Posted in: gray wolf/canis lupus, Wolf Wars

Tags: Robert Schmidt, goldeneyes, tribute to wolves, wolf hunts, beauty of wolves, stop the wolf hunts!

Cry Of The Wolf..

Stalker of death, you have lost your way, and I raise my lips heavenward, my voice singing, loud and clear, setting free a song flowing in moonlight, echoing afar.

I cry for you who have forgotten… and fear remembering… your own wild beauty, blinded by wanton blood lust, killing what is most precious to you.

You have forgotten your greatest joy, born of all that is untamed.. wild.. free.. and this I have lived for you in all of my being, so that wild beauty may not die and cease to be alive in our world.

Will you remember too late, when the forests are deathly silent, when none remain to dance in the moonlight and frolic in virgin snow, when what was once wild with joy is dead… cold.. gone forever?

I set free my mournful cry into the night sky, knowing you will remember the wisdom now numbed with hatred, in a place where your buried soul weeps for shame with tears that will not cease, once it is too late.

Oh mankind, hear my voice, my cry, for it may vanish forever, yet my song shall not be silenced, and my tears… moon-bathed jewels… treasures will remain.

by Francene Stonebraker
Copyright September 2012

===

Thank you Francene,  for allowing me to share your beautiful words.

Salazar Is Leaving!!

Thank god, we’ve all waited for this news! Salazar is leaving the Interior and heading home to Colorado in March! The wolves will be howling tonight.  Salazar has been the worst Interior Secretary EVER. James Watt couldn’t hold a candle to him and that’s saying something.

He and Obama together have delisted wolves twice in the NRM AND recently delisted wolves in the Great Lakes, causing untold wolf suffering  in both parts of the country.  Our rancher Interior Secretary announced last year he’d like to see grizzlies delisted by 2014. So all I have to say to Ken Salazar is GOOD RIDDANCE!!

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-AZ,  is the right choice to be our next Interior Secretary. His record on the environment stands for itself. Not only would his selection be right for all America’s wildlife and wild places but he actually cares about wolves.  When the Fox Mountain alpha female was being threatened with removal from her family and pack, Rep. Grijalva personally  wrote to  USFWS Regional Southwest Director, Benjamin Tuggle, on behalf of this highly endangered and beleaguered Mexican gray wolf.

From Lobos Of The Southwest:

Congressman Grijalva Sends Letter to Director Tuggle of the Fish and Wildlife Service

 Arizona Congressman Speaks Up in Support of Mexican Gray Wolves, August 16, 2012 (posted 08/23/12)

Arizona Congressman, Raul Grijalva, responded to his constituents concerns about the planned removal of the Fox Mountain alpha female.  In his letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Southwest Regional Director, Dr. Benjamin Tuggle, Congressman Grijalva expresses “serious concerns about the ecological impacts of permanently removing this wolf”.
Here are a few more excerpts from his letter:

“There are few wild wolves in this area.  Leaving them in place is critical for their recovery.”

“I am concerned that her removal could result in death or injury for her, her pups, or other adults in the pack.”
“If the Service feels it needs to remove the Fox Mountain alpha female, it should refrain from doing so until it has a solid plan in place to release more wolves.”
“I am concerned that the Service is removing wolves without a plan to enhance the overall population.”

You can read the complete letter here.

===

Please call the White House and your representatives and let them know you support the selection of  Rep. Grijalva to head the  Interior.

===

US Capital Switchboard Number

1-866.220.0044

===

President Obama

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

White House comment line:  202-456-1111 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

==

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar leaving Obama administration

By Morgan Little January 16, 2013, 7:46 a.m.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced Wednesday that he plans to step down and return to Colorado, leaving another opening in President Obama’s Cabinet.

Click here to read more.

===

Photo: kewlwallpapersdotcom

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: Salazar leaving Interior, good riddance, a brighter day for wolves?, Raul Grijalva, Fox Mountain Alpha female, Los Angeles Times

Be Back Soon….

Yellowstone’s 06 Female, 832f and beta male 754, both tragically killed in the brutal wolf hunts

January 14, 2013

Took a little break from the madness this weekend but will be back up to speed this week, ready to continue the fight.  It may have delayed approving some of your comments, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

For the wolves, for the wild ones,

Nabeki

~~~

Sacred Spirit – A-La-Ke

Sacred Spirit – Looking For North

===

STOP THE WOLF HUNTS

Photo: Courtesy NYT, Doug McLaughlin

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: Iconic 06 Female killed, stop the wolf hunts, wolf hunts, wolf persecution, Wolf Wars, Yellowstone 754 beta male killed, Lamar Canyon Pack, Sacred Spirit

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
=====
916

January 11, 2013

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

January 10, 2013

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

====
911

January 9, 2013

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

902

===

January 8, 2013

136/28 ID

103/39 MT

42/27 WY

117 WI

412 MN

904

====

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

===

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