Wolf Decision Appealed To The Ninth Circuit By Conservation Groups….

For Immediate Release – Aug 8, 2011

Conservation Groups Appeal Federal District Court wolf decision

CONTACT:  Mike Garrity, Executive Director, Alliance for the Wild Rockies 406-459-5936

“We still believe that Congress violated the U.S. Constitution when Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) used a rider to overturn the Federal Court’s decision,” said Mike Garrity, Executive Director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.   “We will not allow the fate of endangered species to be determined by politicians serving special interests. These decisions must be based on science, not politics, and Congress has never before removed species from the Endangered Species list by political fiat.”

Citing the wording from Federal Judge Donald Molloy’s recent ruling, Garrity said the Alliance and it’s co-Plaintiffs, Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians, have filed an Appeal to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “to preserve both wolves and the rule of law in the Northern Rockies.”

“Although ruling that he was bound by previous decisions by the Ninth Circuit Court, Judge Molloy was very direct in his opinions on the use of non-related riders on appropriation bills such as used by Senator Tester,” Garrity continued.  “Take, for example, these quotes directly from Molloy’s opinion.”

    •    “The way in which Congress acted in trying to achieve a debatable policy change by attaching a rider to the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011 is a tearing away, an undermining, and a disrespect for the fundamental idea of the rule of law.”

•    “Political decisions derive their legitimacy from the proper function of the political process within the constraints of limited government, guided by a constitutional structure that acknowledges the importance of the doctrine of Separation of Powers. That legitimacy is enhanced by a meaningful, predictable, and transparent process.”

•    “Inserting environmental policy changes into appropriations bills may be politically expedient, but it transgresses the process envisioned by the Constitution by avoiding the very debate on issues of political importance said to provide legitimacy. Policy changes of questionable political viability, such as occurred here, can be forced using insider tactics without debate by attaching riders to legislation that must be passed.“

“We’re continuing this battle because Judge Molloy’s ruling fully supports our contention that there is a well-established legal process that applies to every other species and that pure political expediency should not be the driving force over which of our nation’s imperiled animals and plants will or will not be protected for future generations,” Garrity explained.

The groups charge in their complaint that the delisting rider, which was sponsored by Montana U.S. Senator Jon Tester and Idaho Representative Mike Simpson, violates the U.S. Constitution because it specifically repeals a judicial decision and then exempts it from judicial review.

“While Congress absolutely has the right to make and amend laws, the wolf delisting rider (Section 1713 of the budget law, PL 112-10) does not amend the Endangered Species Act — it circumvents the judicial process by ordering the reinstatement of the 2009 rule that delisted wolves,” Garrity continued.  “Moreover, by exempting it from judicial review it basically nullifies the Constitutional checks and balances between Congress and the Judicial Branch of government.”

“There’s little doubt that wolves are now facing drastic policies at the state level,’ Garrity said. “Wyoming has a ‘shoot on sight’ policy, Idaho just enacted a massive “open season’ that will kill hundreds of wolves and Montana announced it will allow up to 220 of the 566 wolves in the state to be killed this year – nearly half of the wolves to be shot by hunters and an unlimited amount to be killed by government trappers.”

“We are doing all we can to hold back the tide of wolf-killing in Montana, Idaho, and elsewhere in the Northern Rockies,” explained Garrity.  “This ecologically important species is being unfairly targeted out of ignorance and intolerance and now lack a federal shield from being killed.”

“But in the end, this is not just about wolves, it’s about the rule of law.  If Congress can exempt this decision from judicial review, it can likewise exempt anything it does.  That not only spells disaster for endangered species, but for our entire form of government.  Judge Molloy hit the nail on the head when he said Tester’s rider is “a talisman that ipso facto sweeps aside Separation of Powers concerns.”

“We agree with him,” concluded Garrity, pointing to Molloy’s conclusion that reads: “If I were not constrained by what I believe is binding precedent from the Ninth Circuit, and on-point precedent from other circuits, I would hold Section 1713 [Tester’s rider] is unconstitutional because it violates the Separation of Powers doctrine articulated by the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Klein.”

“We think, given the circumstances and the gravity of the Separation of Powers issue, that the Ninth Circuit will want to take a close look at the consequences of allowing Senator Tester’s unprecedented wolf rider to stand.  And we intend to give them that opportunity with our Appeal.”

Notice to file appeal: Click Here

===

Groups ask appeals court to restore wolf protections

Conservation groups asked an appeals court on Monday to strike down a move by Congress to strip more than 1,500 wolves in Idaho and Montana of federal endangered species protections.

 | August 8, 2011

By Laura Zuckerman

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – Conservation groups asked an appeals court on Monday to strike down a move by Congress to strip more than 1,500 wolves in Idaho and Montana of federal endangered species protections.

In a petition to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the groups sought to overturn a ruling last week by a federal judge that found Congress did not exceed its authority in April when it allowed a measure removing wolves from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana.

That ruling, by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, came days after Idaho announced plans to cut its wolf population from about 1,000 to no fewer than 150 by extensive hunting and trapping and less than a month after Montana set a wolf hunting quota of 220 out of a population of 566.

“The states want to decimate the wolf population in the Northern Rockies,” said Michael Garrity, executive director of the Montana-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies. “We want to stop this massive killing that is about to occur.”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=groups-ask-appeals-court-to-restore

===

Photo:  Courtesy Creative Commons

Posted in: Wolf Delisting Lawsuit, Wolf Wars

Tags: Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater, WidlEarth Guardians, Judge Molloy, US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. gray wolves, Idaho, Montana

Judge Molloy Upholds “Wolf Delisting Rider”! Horrible News!!

I’m away from home and have to report this terrible news. Judge Molloy upheld the “wolf delisting rider” via budget bill.

Part of the ESA died tonight along with the future of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies. I can barely type this, it’s so heartbreaking.

Judge Upholds Wolf Law Passed By Congress

LEWIS & CLARK COUNTY

By The Associated Press

POSTED: 6:08 pm MDT August 3, 2011

HELENA, Mont. — A federal judge has reluctantly ruled to uphold a congressional budget provision that removed federal protections for the Northern Rockies gray wolf outside of Wyoming.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy says that binding precedent by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requires him to rule against a constitutional challenge of the rider passed by Congress earlier this year.

Molloy wrote in his order Wednesday that without that precedent, he would have ruled unconstitutional the provision that strips wolves of their endangered status in Montana, Idaho and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah.

Molloy says he believes the way Congress passed the provision undermines and disrespects the fundamental idea of the rule of law.

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/28758626/detail.html

===

Photos: Courtesy of Creative Commons

Posted in: Wolf Delisting Lawsuit, Wolf Wars, Endangered Species Act

Tags: gray wolves, Judge Molloy, wolf rider upheld, howling for justice

I’m Weary!

I haven’t posted in several days and some of you may wonder why? It’s not that I’ve given up or am less interested in justice for gray wolves.  It’s because fighting the relentless persecution of wolves is tiring. I’ve written thousands and thousands of words about the gray wolves’ plight;  many, many nights not turning off the lights until the sun had started to rise on a new day. But that’s what being a passionate wolf advocate is all about.  I do it because I care.

Let’s take a look back at some of the things, not all, that have happened to wolves and wolf advocates in the last 26 months.

In the Spring of 2009 the Obama administration unceremoniously kicked wolves off the endangered species list,  Just mere months after that fateful decision, wolves were being hunted in Montana and Idaho.  Has that EVER happened to a newly delisted species?? EVER?? Then to make matters worse, Montana opens its hunt right outside the borders of Yellowstone National Park, which decimated the park’s iconic and studied Cottonwood Pack. Hunters were waiting near park borders for wolves to cross over. Those wolves were sitting ducks, not as wary of people as they should have been because they’d been habituated by the presence of millions of visitors that frequent the park each year. If that wasn’t bad enough, three wolves were poached in Montana during the hunt and not added to the 75 wolf quota. And of course Wildlife Services was busy killing wolves in Montana  as well.

Other crazy things were going on during the hunts of 2009. Like this. And this.  And this.

Meanwhile, even though the Idaho wolf hunt was supposed to end on December 31, 2009, the commissioners decided to extend it all the way to March 31, 2o1o, right through wolf breeding and denning season. That’s a seven month-long hunt.  Who cares if pregnant or lactating females die along with their pups? Apparently not anybody at fish and game. But then we all knew that didn’t we? That’s why wolf advocates have been shouting so loudly. Don’t turn wolves over to these people, they want to kill them!!!

Environmentalists fought back with a lawsuit, filed in the fall of 2009, challenging the delsting of wolves in the Northern Rockies.  It took almost a year to settle but in August of 2010, Judge Molloy placed wolves back under the protection of the ESA. That’s when the real fun began.  The anti-wolf crowd was losing in court so they decided to switch tactics. They teamed up with Western politicians, itching to score points with hunters and ranchers on the   “wolf issue”.  So the 111th Congress got involved. I can’t even count the number of anti-wolf bills that were introduced.  But because it was late in the Congressional year, none of the bills went anywhere. A little back room dealing was reported. Apparently there was an effort to delist wolves by appropriation rider but it fell flat.

Meanwhile Wildlife Services continued it’s relentless war on wolves.

Wolf advocates were EXHAUSTED, the delisting, the relisting, the poaching, the hunts, the lies, the demonization of wolves and on and on. And more Wildlife Services ugliness against wolves.

It wasn’t long before Congress reconvened and the 112th picked up the persecution of wolves where the 111th Congress left off. Anti-wolf bills were piling up again. Then it got sinister. The Democrats and Republicans were engaged in a budget war.  The sneaky wolf delsting rider started in the House of Representatives when Rep. Simpson (ID-R) introduced it into a must-pass- budget-bill.  The bill passed the House and traveled to the Senate.  Senator Tester (MT-D) convinced the Democrat leadership in the Senate to once again slip the wolf delisting rider into the budget bill.  Sen Tester was  locked in a tough campaign for his Senate seat against Denny Rehberg (R-MT), who also wanted wolves delisted. Basically they were trying to “out wolf” each other.

We all know how the story ended.  81 senators voted for the budget bill with the wolf delisting rider tucked safely inside.  It passed overwhelmingly, only three Democrats voted against it.

Shockingly the Democrat Party betrayed wolves, just threw them under the bus. They did it in hopes of helping Senator Tester keep his Senate seat in the 2012 election and therefore secure their shaky Senate majority.  Because of that treachery wolves and the ESA suffered together. Aside from the Senate’s actions being wholly wrong and disgraceful, they  opened the door for other endangered species, who may inconveniently get in the way of someone’s agenda, to suffer the same fate. Who will be next? Grizzlies? Salmon?

Where do we stand now? Well Idaho is planning a no-quota wolf hunt in most of their state for 2011. They want to use baiting, calling, trapping, snares, archery and of course guns on those hapless wolves. Montana raised their wolf quota to 220 for the 2o11 hunt, with archery on the table as well. Of course WS continues to kill wolves the way they have been doing. If the hunts go forward, the pups of this year will only be 4 to 5 months old. They will die along with their parents either by starvation or outright killing.

There is a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the wolf delisting rider. It was brought by Friends of the Clearwater, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and then joined by WildEarth Guardians.  The Center for Biological Diversity also filed suit and was joined by Western Watersheds Project.  At the end of this month Judge Molloy will hold  hearings on this litigation.  We can only hope he reverses this horrific delisting-budget-rider by finding  it unconstitutional.

And Wildlife Services is still busy killing wolves.

I’m weary.

=======

Photo: Courtesy Eric Begin Flickr Commons

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: wolf persecution, never ending story, wolf advocate, battle weary, Montana wolves, Idaho wolves, US Senate, wolf delisting rider, Judge Molloy

Wolf Delisting Lawsuit Briefs, Alliance For the Wild Rockies

Here are the briefs submitted to the court by Alliance for the Wild Rockies, in support of their lawsuit, challenging the wolf delisting rider.  If successful,  it would find the rider, that was attached to a must pass budget bill, unconstitutional, which I believe it to be.

What the Senate did was egregious. They allowed gray wolves to be thrown under the bus by voting for the budget  bill,  hoping to please Senator Jon Tester, who is running a tight race against Denny Rehberg, for his Senate seat in 2012. In essence Rehberg and Tester are trying to out-wolf each other and capture the  anti-wolf vote. They’re both running on the issue.

The Senate could easily have stripped the rider out of the budget bill or allowed an up or down vote on the rider, as  they did for the other two riders included in the budget bill,  Planned Parenthood and Obamacare.  Senators voted up or down on both those riders and both were defeated but they left the wolf delisting rider in place, which allowed them to vote on the budget bill with the rider still attached.

I think it was sneaky and underhanded.  In my opinion, the Senators didn’t want to “go on the record” and vote for the wolf delisting rider outright, so they tucked it away in the budget bill.  The ESA was used and abused for political gain. For the first time, a species like the wolf, who has a long history of persecution and ultimately extermination in the West, was stripped of their ESA protections. If any species deserves ESA protection, it’s the gray wolf.

  Only three Democrats voted against the budget bill: e.g., Leahy , Levin and Wyden. Bernie Sanders, (I-VT) voted against it as well. President Obama then signed the bill into law with the rider attached and lo and behold, wolves were stripped of their ESA protections by budget rider.  That’s the whole sad, disgusting story.  The day the Democrats sold out wolves for Jon Tester’s Senate seat. I think he’ll be defeated because he is never going to out-do Rehberg on wolves. The entire exercise of delisting wolves was for nothing.

•Brief, May 31, 2011

http://www.wildrockiesalliance.org/news/2011/0531wolfBRF.pdf

•Statement of Undisputed Facts, May 31, 2011

http://www.wildrockiesalliance.org/news/2011/0531wolfSUF.pdf

•Reply June 21, 2011

http://www.wildrockiesalliance.org/news/2011/0621wolfREP.pdf

=======

Links to the briefs can also be found on Alliance for the Wild Rockies website.

Please visit AWR and give generously in support of this very important wolf litigation.

Just to remind everyone what this lawsuit it all about I included an opinion piece, which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor in April 2011, which succinctly details the delisting of the Northern Rockies gray wolf via budget rider. It explains why this action by Congress was so egregious and wrong.

The Senate’s reckless disregard for the ESA and the political delisting of wolves,  prompted the mounting of a legal challenge by Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians, to seek to right the wrong done to wolves by the 112th Congress and the President.

Opinion Christian Science Monitor

True cost of budget deal will be paid in blood – of gray wolves

One of the most unfortunate riders of the recent budget deal is the decision to strip the gray wolf of the protections of the Endangered Species Act. Science has been subordinated to political instrumentalism, setting a dangerous precedent for the future.

By David N. Cassuto / April 19, 2011

Williamstown, Mass.

Many words have been spent on the budget compromise struck between Republicans and Democrats in the 11th hour a couple weeks ago, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown. In the days since, details of this budget agreement have slowly emerged, but few actually know what it fully entails – and what it really means for Americans. Perhaps this is because Congress and the president appear to have had a similarly limited understanding of the nature and scope of the cuts they agreed upon.

Nevertheless, President Obama and members of Congress did know that they agreed on a few things having nothing whatsoever to do with the budget, budget cuts, or with federal spending at all. One of the most unfortunate of these “budget” agreement riders is the decision to strip the gray wolf of the protections of the Endangered Species Act. In the 37-year history of the Act, no species has ever been delisted for purely political reasons. Prior to last week, science guided such decisions. Now, science will be subordinated to political instrumentalism, setting a dangerous precedent for the future.

Read More: http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0419/True-cost-of-budget-deal-will-be-paid-in-blood-of-gray-wolves

=======

Photo: All About Wolves

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: Wolf delisting lawsuit, Judge Molloy, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater, WildEarth Guardians, Jon Tester, Denny Rehberg, gray wolves, ESA, budget bill

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

=====

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

Wolf Wars Continues, Prelim.Hearing, Missoula, Montana Today

Today wolves will be front and center in Judge Molloy’s courtroom AGAIN. I’m sure the anti-wolfers will be out in force, waving their signs, complaining about an animal most of them have never seen or ever will see in the wild. But then we all know this  crazy, unrelenting, sick campaign against wolves is at its heart, a culture war. On one side we have the passionate wolf advocates who believe wildlife  has worth, above and beyond killing them for pleasure. We want wolves protected, not a replay of 2009, when 500 wolves died in the Northern Rockies, mainly at the hands of hunters, Wildlife Services and poachers.

On the other side of this war are the anti-wolf forces. They claim wolves have worms (OH MY), they’re Canadian, they’re killing all the elk, they’re killing all the livestock, they’re carrying off children from bus stops, chasing people around in the woods and generally just destroying lives.

Of course this is all Kabuki Theater and pure  BS. The tapeworm they’re so worked up about can be carried by all canines and since we have over 70 million dogs in this country I think they should worry about their house wolves, not the wild ones. Has there been one recorded case of a wolf biologist contracting hydatid disease in this country? I haven’t read of one.  Since wolf biologists handle wolves and wolf scat you’d think they would be dropping like flies, according to the wolf hating crowd.  But you know, facts are pesky things, they get in the way of lies and damn lies.

As for wolves being Canadian, what does that even mean? Wolves have been crossing back and forth across the invisible line that separates the US and Canada for thousands of years. When wolves were exterminated the first time around in the West, they came back to Montana on their own in the early eighties, after the dust had settled and they felt safe enough to make the trip. By that time they were protected under the ESA.  There have been wolves living and denning in Glacier National Park for thirty years, long before they were officially “reintroduced” in 95/96 to Yellowstone and Central Idaho.

Wolves don’t even come close to being a serious threat to livestock. Actually all predation accounts for just 1% of cattle losses and it’s the coyote, not the wolf who is the main predator of livestock. In 2oo9 it was reported coyotes killed 12,000 lambs and 2300 sheep in Montana, while wolves were responsible for a few hundred. I don’t want to demonize coyotes, who labor under terrible persecution themselves, just offering a little perspective on this crazy war on wolves.  Cattle losses from the little coyote “song dogs” are nothing compared to cows dying from disease, calving and weather or being carted off by rustlers. Thousands of cows even drop dead from altitude sickness. But Wolf Wars isn’t about the truth. It about bending the truth. It’s about demonizing an animal who is the least dangerous of all large carnivores. Heck, deer are more dangerous than wolves. They cause hundreds of deaths each year in auto accidents, ringing up billions of dollars in damages.

Moose kill more people than wolves. Bees kill more people than wolves. Hunters kill more people than wolves, there are at least 100 fatal hunting accidents each year in the US and Canada alone, with many more people maimed and injured. But wolves, well they haven’t killed anyone in the lower forty-eight in ONE HUNDRED YEARS. And wolves are shy creatures. They fear man, they’ve been persecuted a long, long time. They want to be as far away from people as possible. You can’t count the wolves in Yellowstone, they’re habituated. They’ve got biologists chasing them around with helicopters to collar them, visitors lined up with their viewing scopes, tracking their every move. Those wolves don’t fear people and that’s sad because if there is another wolf hunt this year, they will be sitting ducks for hunters, just like the famed Yellowstone Cottonwood Pack, who was decimated with the opening of the 2009 hunt. Yellowstone wolves don’t understand invisible park lines and regularly cross back and forth across the boundary. Hunters were literally waiting for them. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Fair chase?

As for wolves killing all the elk, I think hunters have the wrong predator. They should be looking at themselves in the mirror. Fish and game agencies are in the business of keeping ungulate numbers high and predator numbers low.  Why? Because our wild places have been turned into giant game farms  for the pleasure of hunters who like to kill things. Their licensing fees pour into state game coffers. Whose side are these agencies going to come down on, the wolf or the hunter?

Since there are almost 400,000 elk in the tri-state area of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, I don’t think we’ll be running out of elk anytime soon. But in terms of wolves competing with human hunters for the elk killing prize, wolves don’t even come close. And wolves do elk a lot more good than man.  They cull ungulate herds and keep them healthy.

Wolf Wars is about them and us. It’s about outsiders and insiders. It’s about entitlement and egos. It’s about anti-government sentiment. It’s about machismo and dominion. It’s about pretty much everything except wolves.

So the charade plays out. The ten environmental groups who were part of a victory for wolves last summer ran scared when the anti-wolfers figured out they could run an end-round the ESA and encourage  politicians in the wolf states to do their bidding,.  So the big orgs caved and made a deal. A very bad deal I might add.  They gave up so much and got practically nothing in return. They tied their own hands and agreed not to file a lawsuit until 2o16. That is  stunning in its naiveté.

“The plaintiffs have agreed not to challenge any final rule designating and delisting any DPS prior to March 31, 2016. Further, they have agreed not to petition to list either the Northern Rocky Mountains DPS or any wolf population within the NRM DPS within the next three years.”

What makes them think there will be any wolves left in Montana and Idaho in 2016? If the states get a hold of them wolves could be gone by 2o13 or on their way out. Yet these groups were willing to make a deal with wolves’ lives, knowing the brutality that awaits them? Have they not been listening to the Governors of those states and their rhetoric, trash talking the federal wolf management plans?

A special thank you  to the four groups that refused to settle, Friends of the Clearwater, WWP, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and The Humane Society of the United States. You are heroes for standing firm and not running from a fight.

My hope is Judge Molloy will not sign off on this deal. I find it hard to believe he will, having to stay his own decision. Last August he ruled it was illegal to delist one segment of the wolf population while keeping another listed. Now he is being asked to set that aside?

Wolves are once again on the chopping block. It’s more high drama, I’m sure it will sell papers and increase ratings. For wolves the stakes couldn’t be higher. Some days I’m ashamed to be human.

=======

Federal Judge to Consider Gray Wolf Yet Again

Posted by George Prentice on Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 3:15 PM

http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2011/03/23/federal-judge-to-consider-gray-wolf-yet-again

=======

Wolf deal faces first test before Judge Molloy

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press

Thursday, March 24, 2011 5:00 am

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_1f859078-55a2-11e0-b512-001cc4c002e0.html

Photo: Courtesy kewlwallpapers.com

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: settlement, Montana wolves, Idaho wolves, ESA, Judge Molloy, wolf myths

Judge Molloy Asks If Reintroduced Wolves Non-Essential, Experimental Status Should Be Dismissed…..

 

UPDATE: Please read Judge Molloy’s “Order To Show Cause”

Notice the Safari Club Is One of the Defendants. That should give you a hint about what the attack on the ESA and wolves is really all about. Think about it.

http://wolves.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/experimental_wolves_molloy_order.pdf

=======

In a stunning move, Judge Molloy is asking parties in the 10j lawsuit, if  reintroduced wolves experimental, non-essential designation should be vacated?

The 10j rule was a concession to ranchers that allows reintroduced wolves to be killed for livestock depredation. Since 1995 hundreds of wolves have been gunned down by Wildlife Services under the 1oj. In 2008 the 10j rule was re-written to include “prey declines” as a reason to kill wolves, hence a lawsuit was brought challenging those changes.

Idaho is planning on killing wolves in the Lolo zone because they claim wolves are causing  declines in the Lolo elk population. The Lolo elk herd has been declining for decades, way before wolves were reintroduced. But facts are pesky little things and get in the way of dogma. The Lolo kill would be approved under the 1oj but if Judge Molloy vacates it, then the Lolo wolves will be safe.

Judge Molloy is asking if the non-essential, experimental designation for reintroduced wolves still holds true, since they have been breeding with wolves in Northwest Montana. who dispersed on their own from Canada and are not governed by the 10j. At this point there is really no way to tell the two populations apart?

From the Lewiston Tribune Online:

 A federal judge in Montana is asking parties to a lawsuit over gray wolves if the animals should lose their experimental, nonessential designation and revert to a fully endangered or threatened designation. Such a move could torpedo Idaho’s request to kill wolves in the Lolo Zone. The order, issued this afternoon by District Court Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula, Mont., stems from a lawsuit filed in 2008 by environmental groups over new rules issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service making it easier for states to kill wolves for the purpose of protecting deer, elk and moose herds. States like Idaho can petition the federal wildlife agency for permission to kill wolves if they are found to be harming wild ungulate herds. The petitions are allowed under the designation of wolves in Idaho and parts of Montana as an experimental nonessential population.

Wolves were reintroduced to the Northern Rockies in 1995 and 1996 under that designation, known as 10(j). To qualify as an experimental population, the wolves must be “wholly separate geographically from nonexperimental populations of the same species.”

Molloy said that was the case at the time of reintroduction. However, he wrote the federal government documented in another lawsuit that wolves in the Northern Rockies are now breeding with wolves from Canada and a portion of Montana where they are not designated as an experimental population.

Molloy issued an eight-page order to show cause asking parties to the case to file briefs showing why the case “should not be dismissed as moot due to the absence of a population meeting the statutory requirements for 10(j) status.”

 If the 10j is vacated, all wolves in the Northern Rockies would be fully protected by the ESA. making it much more difficult to kill them. 

Briefs on both sides are due by February 22, 2o11.

 I’m sure this is going to stir up a firestorm but it’s long overdue. The 10j rule is moot.

======

Judge’s ruling could threaten state’s ability to kill wolves

January 28, 2011, 5:43 pm

http://www.lmtribune.com/breaking-news/1626/ 

=======

Judge’s ruling could put new limits on wolf hunts

Associated Press – January 28, 2011 11:34 PM ET

http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=13931109

=======

Molloy could enact new limits on killing wolves

Saturday, January 29, 2011 10:00 am 

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_5794df08-2b60-11e0-a805-001cc4c002e0.html

 

Photo: kewlwallpapers.com

Posted in: Wolf Wars

Tags: 10(j), Judge Molloy, litigation, gray wolves

JUSTICE!!! WOLVES RELISTED IN THE NORTHERN ROCKIES!!

 

Ulrok the Rottweiler adopts wolf pup Beldaran

Breath a sigh of relief and HOWL for joy Wolf Warriors….wolves will NOT be subjected to the brutal hunts in Montana and Idaho.

Judge Molloy has relisted wolves in the Northern Rockies.!!

It doesn’t mean the battle is over but it’s a  major victory for wolves. Now we can concentrate on pushing the Center for Biological Diversity’s national wolf recovery plan.

Let’s savor this victory for wolves,  We know the decision will likely be appealed to the Ninth Circuit but for now wolves are safe from the bloody, disgusting, unnecessary, wolf hunts!!

HOWWWWWWWWWWL

=======

READ  JUDGE MOLLOY’S DECISION….CLICK HERE

=======

Judge puts wolves back on endangered species list, hunts halted

http://www.ktvb.com/news/local/Federal-judge-puts-gray-wolves-back-on-endangered-species-list-100071859.html

Photos: Courtesy Barry Bland, Barcroft Media

Posted in: gray wolf/canis lupus, H0wling for Justice

Tags: Judge Molloy, Victory, gray wolves relisted,  no wolf hunts,  ESA

Nail Biting Time As Wolf Advocates Await Judge Molloy’s Ruling

I wake up thinking about a wolf archery season and my blood runs cold. The thought of these sensient beings shot full of arrows is something I can’t wrap my mind around, yet that is what will happen to Montana wolves if the 2010 hunt is allowed to go forward this September.

In my wildest dreams I never envisioned a day when the climate in the Northern Rockies would disintegrate so quickly for gray wolves.

When wolves were reintroduced I was filled with hope but now they are being used for target practice by people that love to kill, pure and simple. There is no reason to hunt a wolf other then the thrill of killing. You can’t eat them, what purpose does it serve other then blood lust?

And who dreamed up a wolf archery season at Montana FWP? Would any living being want the excruciating pain of taking an arrow in the head, the leg, the mouth, the neck. How many bow hunters know what they’re doing? Read this report on bow hunting of deer and substitute wolf.  It will chill you to the bone. This cruel killing method should be illegal and never used on any animal, deer or wolf.

“Report on Bowhunting

This report summarizes twenty-four studies on bowhunting from across the country. The facts in these studies show clearly that bowhunting is inhumane and wasteful. The possibility of a deer being impaled by a broadhead arrow and then dying instantaneously is extremely slight. Wounding and crippling losses are inevitable. Every one of these studies has concluded that for every deer legally killed by bowhunters, at least one or more is struck by a broadhead arrow, wounded, and not recovered. The studies indicate an average bowhunting wounding rate of 54%, with the shots per kill averaging 14. We believe that these numbers are conservative.

The Wounding Cover-up

Bowhunting journals make it clear that they do not want bowhunters speaking to anyone about wounding. Their editorials even suggest that bowhunters should underestimate their losses.a”

Read the rest of the disgusting facts about bowhunting…CLICK HERE:

As we await Judge Molloy’s decision, there is no doubt in my mind that if the upcoming wolf hunts aren’t stopped we will witness the beginning of the end for wolves in the Northern Rockies. 

The gloves are off and the states have openly admitted they are *“managing” wolves to reduce their population, for the first time since their reintroduction.

State game agencies cannot be trusted with wolves lives, period.  As George Wuerthner points out in his recent article Wolves, Oil, Bureaucrats and Judges:

“Indeed, the best management of predators is exactly what California has done with cougars—eliminate all hunting of predators, except for those which pose a direct threat to human life and/or livestock. With regards to livestock we should require changes in animal husbandry practices to reduce conflicts such as immediate removal of carrion, use of guard animals, among other practices.“

I couldn’t agree more. George continues:

“In California voters were persuaded that Fish and Game agencies could not scientifically manage cougars, and that hunting created more problems than it eliminated. Voters took authority for hunting away from the agency by banning cougar hunting.

Since the ban on hunting in 1991, cougar populations have grown significantly. But surprising to some, California now has far fewer cougar incidents than other western states that have fewer cougars, fewer people, but permit cougar hunting. The only control that California exerts on cougar populations is the strategic removal of individual cougar that are deemed a safety threat to humans.”

Imagine voters taking matters into their own hands, realizing state game agencies have too much invested in pleasing hunters, to ever be fair to predators. Can you envision that kind of protection for wolves?

Wolves in the Northern Rockies truly cannot survive, in any meaningful way, without ESA.  As long as the culture of  hate and persecution surrounds them, wolves will need to be listed. Even under the ESA umbrella they are still subject to  killing by Wildlife Services for agribusiness. It’s impossible for them to withstand that AND state sponsored hunts. 

In my mind it’s not about numbers of wolves, it’s the hateful climate they can’t tolerate. Wolves must be protected from it. That was the very reason ESA was created and why wolves were able to start their comeback before they were delisted by the Obama admistration.

So we wait for Judge Molloy to rule, the fate of the Northern Rockies gray wolf population hangs in the balance. Nail biting time…..

=======

Gazette opinion: Wolf fans, foes await ruling

Gazette Staff | Posted: Monday, July 12, 2010 12:10 am

http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/editorial/gazette-opinion/article_3654e346-8d4b-11df-9e78-001cc4c03286.html

=======

July 13, 2010

Wolves, Oil, Bureaucrats and Judges

By GEORGE WUERTHNER

 http://www.counterpunch.org/wuerthner07132010.html

 

Photo: Courtesy Kewl wallpaper

Posted in: gray wolf/canis lupus, Montana wolves, Idaho wolves, Wyoming wolves, Oregon wolves,  Wolf Wars

Tags: ESA, Judge Molloy, Obama adminstration delisting, wolf recovery

Waiting Game: Fate Of Wolves In The Northern Rockies?

It’s been over  a year since wolves were delisted in the Northern Rockies, yet it seems like decades. Almost immediately, Montana and Idaho were lining up wolf trophy hunts. Wolf advocates have always been told the states would be reasonable managing wolves, that they “loved wolves”. Well if this is love, it’s TOUGH LOVE.  500 wolves died in the Northern Rockies in 2009 and Wildlife Services is still killing them for agribusiness. It’s been a terrible year.

Wolf supporters watched in horror as wolves were hunted for the first time since their reintroduction. One minute they were a protected species and the next they were target practice. 

It was shocking in it’s swiftness but were we all so naive to think the states could “manage” wolves? State game agencies have never been good at managing predators.  Predators compete for the game hunters want to kill. Hunters are state game agencies’  life blood. They pay licensing fees which fill state game agency coffers.  Why would the welfare of wolves ever trump that relationship? It wouldn’t and it hasn’t.

From the Sierra Club:

“We have consistently maintained that wolves in the northern Rockies are not ready to be removed from the Endangered Species list,” said Sierra Club representative Bob Clark. “Removing federal protections for wolves has left them at the mercy of aggressive state plans that treat wolves as pests rather than a valuable wildlife resource.”

On Tuesday, June  15th, wolves went to court to gain their protections back. The lawsuit to relist wolves, brought by fourteen environmental groups, was finally moving forward.  Judge Molloy was ready to hear oral agruments from both sides of the wolf  issue, at the Russell Smith Federal Courthouse in Missoula,  Montana.

Of course there were wolf protesters outside the courthouse waving their anti-wolf signs. And of course they were on the front page of  local newspapers. The anti-wolf crowd gets most of the headlines. I guess hateful rhetoric sells. But make no mistake wolves have many, many supporters in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, Wolves have supporters around this country and the world. We might not be as vocal but we are no less passionate about this incredible amd persecuted animal, the gray wolf.

The courtroom was packed,  a brief recess was called when a legal student collapsed while presenting part of the case for The Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

The hearing didn’t last very long,  It was all over in a few hours. 

I want to personally thank Doug Honnold, the lead Earthjustice attorney, for doing such a terrific job for wolves in their dark hour!!

Judge Molloy stated he’d rule “as quickly as I can”.  I hope it comes soon. Montana and Idaho have admitted they are aggressively going after wolves to reduce their numbers in 2010/2011. This is called “wolf love”?  It’s how they show their love for wolves by killing them?  Who do they think they’re kidding?

Both states want to significantly increase their wolf hunt quotas, Montana proposes a wolf archery season and back country wolf rifle season. Idaho may be adding calling, baiting and trapping to their “toolbox” of tricks. I shudder to think what will happen if wolves aren’t relisted.

And we can’t forget the hardcore wolf haters, that love to stir things up. One wolf hating website discussed hunters killing wolves with Xylitol, a popular sweetner, that’s deadly to canines. I guess they don’t care if  pet dogs die along with the wolves they hate so much. Seriously, what is wrong with people?  Do you see what wolves are up against in the Northern Rockies? They cannot survive here without ESA protection.

So now we wait.

The future of the Northern Rockies gray wolf  hangs in the balance.

Posted: Tuesday, 15 June 2010 8:46AM Fate of Rocky Mountain wolves to be decided Sierra Club http://www.keci.com/pages/7470875.php?contentType=4&contentId=6288504 =======

Photos: courtesy kewl wallpaper

Posted in: Wolf Delisting Lawsuit, Howling For Justice, Wolf Wars

Tags: Judge Molloy, ESA, Doug Honnold,, gray wolf/canis lupus, wolf persecution