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WOLVES ARE DYING!!
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Video: Courtesy Animal Connection You Tube
Photo: Courtesy Thinkstock
Posted in: Wolf Wars
Tags: Stand up for wolves, wolf scapegoating, wolf slaughter, wolf extermination, TAKE ACTION
14 Wolves Aerial Gunned In The Lolo….
Idaho can’t seem to stop killing wolves. In early February, according to an IDFG press release, Idaho Wildlife Services swept down in their aerial gunships and slaughtered 14 innocent Lolo wolves. Their excuse? What else? Blaming wolves for elk declines in the Lolo, even though elk have been declining in the Lolo long before wolves were reintroduced.
This is the height of wolf breeding season. How many of those fourteen wolves were pregnant? Killing two birds with one stone? Did they wait until breeding season to wipe out the next generation of Lolo wolves along with their mothers?
From The Wildlife News
Idaho Department of Fish and Game Spends $22,500 to Kill 14 Wolves in the Lolo Zone
By Ken Cole On February 22, 2012
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game issued a press release this afternoon stating that in early February, USDA Wildlife Services killed 14 wolves from helicopters in the Lolo Zone.
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Is this killing spree ever going to end? Just yesterday the Idaho Senate Resources and Environment Committee voted to send Siddoway’s “Wolf Killing Live Bait” bill to the full Senate for a vote.
“The bill would let livestock owners whose animals are molested by wolves shoot the wolves from motorized vehicles, powered parachutes, helicopters or fixed-wing planes, by night or day, using rifles, pistols, shotguns, or crossbows, night scopes, electronic calls, and traps with live bait.
On top of that we have the latest horror of 14 dead Lolo wolves. 321 wolves have been killed in the hunt, which doesn’t end until March 31, 2012 and stretches until June 2012 in the Lolo and Selway zones.
Idaho is a killing zone for wolves. The persecuted animals need their federal protections back and the way Idaho is killing wolves, it won’t be long before wolves are relisted. The state is proving it CANNOT and SHOULD not be allowed to “manage” wolves.
February 23, 2012 in Outdoors, Idaho
Aerial gunners kill 14 wolves in North Idaho
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/feb/23/aerial-gunners-kill-14-wolves-north-idaho/
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Senate Resources Committee endorses night, aerial wolf kills, live bait use for ranchers
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Photo: Courtesy the Missoulian
Posted in: Wolf Wars, Idaho wolves, Aerial Gunning of Wolves
Tags: Lolo wolves, Aerial gunning, 14 Lolo wolves dead, Wolf Wars, wolf scapegoating
Boycott “The Grey”…
400 WOLVES SLAUGHTERED IN MT/IDAHO HUNTS
State biologist dreads Hollywood portrayal of wolves
Attacks on humans, implied in movie’s trailers, extremely rare
Wolves are coming to the big screen today in “The Grey,” a man-versus-beast thriller starring Liam Neeson.
When their plane crashes in Alaska’s frozen wilderness, a bunch of oil-field roughnecks fight for survival. Not only do the men combat cold and hunger, they’re stalked by a wolf pack.
Film previews feature eerie howls and shots of feral eyes glinting in the darkness. When carnage ensues in this R-rated film, the wolves are usually the winners.
But the movie’s portrayal of wolves as man-eaters dismays Gary Wiles.
“My first reaction was, ‘Oh, no!’ ” said Wiles, a wildlife biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “It looks totally like a Hollywood-contrived movie: something to strike at people’s basic fears.”
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/jan/27/state-biologist-dreads-hollywood-portrayal-of/
UPDATE: January 2o, 2012
Howling for Justice will continue to highlight this post until the movie opens on January 27, 2012 and beyond. We are happy to see that Wild Earth Guardians has joined the fight and is also calling for a “blacklist of The Grey”.
UPDATE: January 17, 2012
As if there aren’t enough reasons to dislike this movie, add the sickening fact that Liam Neeson and the cast of “The Grey” actually ate wolf meat while making this “movie”. The thought of them eating the flesh of the ancestor of our beloved dogs, makes me physically ill.
One more BIG REASON to BOYCOTT “THE GREY”.
Liam Neeson and “The Grey” Cast Ate Wolf Meat
by Jennifer Mishler January 17, 2012
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I guess Hollywood doesn’t have anything better to do then demonize wolves. With two wolf hunts mowing down wolves in the Northern Rockies, aerial gunning planned in Idaho’s Lolo zone, wolves in the Great Lakes coming off the endangered species list, facing brutal hunts, Hollywood decided this would be a good time to make a movie about killer wolves.
Wolves are the least dangerous of large predators in North America.
THERE HAS NOT BEEN ONE FATAL WOLF ATTACK ON HUMANS IN THE LOWER FORTY EIGHT IN OVER A HUNDRED YEARS OF RECORD KEEPING.
There have been two controversial human/wolf fatal encounters in North America, in the last century, that’s it. You have a better chance of accidentally being killed by hunters (100 fatal hunting accidents per year in the US and Canada with another 1000 injured) or have your child shot @ a bus stop. It’s not wolves parents should worry about @ bus stops but stray bullets from hunters.
Child Shot At Bus Stop By Hunter
Our beloved dogs, kill another 30 people or more a year and bite approx. 4.7 million people annually. Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs but those are the facts.
Deer/vehicle accidents claim at least 200 lives every year and cause billions of dollars in damages. You know why there are so many deer? The fish and game agencies make sure predators are targeted and their numbers kept low. Then deer populations explode causing hundreds of thousands of auto accidents.
In Canberra, the capital of Australia, they’ve decimated the dingoes, the kangaroo’s only natural predator. Around the city there’s been an explosion of the Roo population. The Roos hop into the city at night, munch on people’s lawns, get hit by cars and chased by dogs. These are “urban kangaroos”, pushed into the city by drought, dwindling habitat and their own over-population. When Roo numbers get too high “wildlife managers” control them by “culling/killing” kangaroos by the thousands. Roo mothers are shot in the head during “the culls” and their little pouched “Joeys” are either decapitated or their skulls are crushed.
Australia isn’t any better at “managing” their wildlife then we are. They eliminate the top predator, the dingo, who could prevent kangaroo overpopulation. Instead, kangaroo numbers go up and the guns come out.
The same happens in America with deer. Natural predators are eliminated, the deer population explodes and you have a recipe for disaster.
Loss of large predators has caused widespread disruption of ecosystems
Scientists say decimation of top consumers may be “humankind’s most pervasive influence on the natural world” due to cascading effects on ecosystems
July 14, 2011
By Tim Stephens
http://news.ucsc.edu/2011/07/apex-consumers.html
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All because “wildlife managers” are short-sighted and listen to the hunting and ranching cabals instead of doing what’s right and healthy for our ecosystems.
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A woman was recently killed by flying deer parts (head and shoulders). The deer had been cut in half in another accident.
Woman driver killed by flying deer parts
December 29, 2011 9:41AM
POLICE in western Pennsylvania say a woman was killed when part of a deer struck by another vehicle went through her windshield and hit her.
People die from bee stings, are fatally stomped by moose, run over by trains, approx. 90 people are killed by lightning strikes each year, in 2010 14, 748 people were murdered in the US, I could go on and on.
My point? Wolf attacks are VERY RARE. So rare that making a movie about killer wolves is ridiculous. Wolves DO NOT need more bad press, the anti-wolf crowd spends their waking hours spreading myths and lies about wolves. Just because someone came up with this lame-brained idea of a movie, doesn’t mean it had to be made. It will do nothing but hurt wolves, just like the movie Jaws hurt the image of sharks. 70 to 90 million sharks are killed every year around the world.
Please boycott this movie!!
You can picket your local theater where “The Grey” will be playing but personally I think that draws more attention, people love controversy. BUT do contact the theater complex and let them know how you and your friends feel about this movie and that you’ll be staying away.
I call on the producer and director to re-consider what they’re doing. Are they not aware of the nasty campaign being waged against wolves across this country but specifically in the Northern Rockies? Have they not done their homework? Do they care? Wolf haters don’t need help from Hollywood to persecute wolves. What happened to all the environmentalists in the movie industry? Will they be silent and allow this misunderstood, highly intelligent, social animal to be characterized as something they’re not?
At the very least a disclaimer is needed, wolves rarely ever attack people. They are shy and reclusive, dedicated to their families. The exception to wolves exhibiting extreme fear of humans is when wolves been habituated to human presence, as in Yellowstone National Park. where because of their rock star status, they are exposed to people on a regular basis. Visitors are fascinated by these iconic animals and can’t get enough of them. Wolves generate at least 35 million dollars annually to the GYA (Greater Yellowstone Area). Yellowstone wolves do tolerate human presence because they don’t perceive humans as threats inside the park. Outside the park is a different story, since these wolves are so used to people they are easy targets. The most unfortunate incident happened during Montana’s 2009 wolf hunt, when FWP opened the hunt right outside park boundaries. Wolves routinely move in and out of the park because they can’t read signs. Hunters took advantage of this and decimated the studied and famous Cottonwood Pack, killing the alpha male and female and their powerful daughter. When the alpha pair is killed the pack usually disperses.
Shame on the director and producers of this film. They should visit the Northern Rockies, where brutal wolf hunts are in full swing and see for themselves the hatred and scapegoating wolves are subjected to.
Please read Bill Gibson’s article in the LA Times, to get up to speed on what wolves are being subjected to. Maybe you’d understand how damaging “The Grey” will be to wolves and why advocates are so upset over this.
The new war on wolves
Op-Ed
As soon as federal protection ended, the slaughter began.
December 08, 2011|By J. William Gibson
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/08/opinion/la-oe-gibson-the-war-on-wolves-20111208
More examples of persecution. The Safari Club and others are providing incentives for hunters to go out and kill wolves and make
darn sure Montana meets it’s 220 dead wolf quota by February 15, 2012. February 15, 2012 is an extension from the original wolf hunt end date of December 31, 2012. Montana FWP moved the goalposts.
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THREE HUNDRED AND NINTY NINE WOLVES
are dead in the Montana/Idaho wolf hunts as of o1/20/12. And this is only January. Idaho’s wolf hunt runs through June 2012, in the Lolo and Selway zones, A TEN MONTH LONG HUNT!! Wolves in Idaho are dying painful deaths in brutal traps and choking snares.
Is there nothing Hollywood won’t do to make a buck? Not only does this movie unfairly depict wolves but it will contribute to the escalating wolf demonization.
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Contact information for “The Grey”, courtesy of Justin Forte:
Please take a few moments to contact those involved with this “movie”. Tell them how you feel about it and why. Be direct, polite and to the point. Let them know you are boycotting “The Grey”. Be sure to mention there are thousands of outraged wolf advocates, who are also movie goers. We are spreading the word, we don’t want to contribute to profits made off the backs of wolves.
Demand a disclaimer in the opening and closing credits. This movie is a misrepresentation of wild wolves. They are not blood thirsty, human stalking killers, as the movie depicts.
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Contact:: Open Road Films and Liam Neeson .
Open Road Films
12301 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 600
Santa Monica, California 90025.
Telephone: 310-696-7575. Fax: 310-571-2278.
Liam’ Neeson’s publicist is: Alan Nierob, Rogers & Cowan Public Relations, Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Avenue, 7th Floor, Los Angeles, California 90069. Telephone: 310-854-8100
Thank You. The wolves thank you!!
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WildEarth Guardians Joins The Fight to Boycott “The Grey”
Wolves are under attack, having lost Endangered Species Act protection in many states, placing them in the crosshairs of a vocal minority in agribusiness and hunting groups who refuse to tolerate this ecologically vital carnivore. Hundreds have already been killed this winter and now Hollywood has jumped on the hysteria bandwagon by perpetuating the stereotype of wolves as evil and violent in the new film, “The Grey.”
Please join WildEarth Guardians in sending a strong message to the film director and boycotting “The Grey” so that anti-wolf profiteers like director Joe Carnahan won’t benefit from this terrible film.
CLICK HERE TO PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT FOR WOLVES
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Here is a true wild wolf encounter with the added treat of seeing a grizzly sow with cubs. Do these wolves look like bloodthirsty killers who stalk people? Absolutely not.
Please visit Brad Joseph’s Wildlife Videos on YouTube and see how a true naturalist appreciates and photographs our vital apex predators, like the wolf and grizzly bear.
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Brad Joseph’s Wildlife Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/bradjosephs
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Alaska Bears and Wolves
About Brad Josephs
http://www.alaskabearsandwolves.com/brad-josephs/
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Video: YouTube Brad Johnson’s Wildlife Channel
Posted in: Wolf Wars, gray wolf
Tags: boycott “The Grey”,wolf scapegoating, wolf demonization for profit, unfair representation of wolves, Liam Neeson, Open Road Films, Brad Johnson
The New War On Wolves…
As soon as federal protection ended, the slaughter began.
By J. William Gibson
December 8, 2011
Congress removed wolves in Montana and Idaho from the protection of the Endangered Species Act in April. And this fall, the killing began.
As of Wednesday, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game reported that 154 of its estimated 750 wolves had been “harvested” this year. Legal hunting and trapping — with both snares to strangle and leg traps to capture — will continue through the spring. And if hunting fails to reduce the wolf population sufficiently — to less than 150 wolves — the state says it will use airborne shooters to eliminate more.In Montana, hunters will be allowed to kill up to 220 wolves this season (or about 40% of the state’s roughly 550 wolves). To date, hunters have taken only about 100 wolves, prompting the state to extend the hunting season until the end of January. David Allen, president of the powerful Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, has said he thinks hunters can’t do the job, and he is urging the state to follow Idaho’s lead and “prepare for more aggressive wolf control methods, perhaps as early as summer 2012.”
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-gibson-the-war-on-wolves-20111208,0,822158.story?track=rss
Photo: wolf wallpaper
Posted in: Wolf Wars
Tags: J. William Gibson, LA Times, wolf scapegoating, wolf slaughter, Idaho wolf hunt, Montana wolf hunt, snares, traps
Black Tuesday…
November 17, 2011
Dear Friends,
More than ever, Idaho’s wolves need your voice to speak for them.
On Black Tuesday, November 15, 2011, a five-month trapping and snaring season began. Anyone who has taken a brief course taught by professional wolf killers can now strangle or mangle wolves all winter up until March 31, 2012, in the Middle Fork Salmon River, Selway, Lolo, Panhandle or Dworshak-Elk City Zones. Up to 10 wolves can be taken by wolf trappers.
Idaho trappers are celebrating and the media is playing up to them. http://www.kval.com/news/national/133901783.html
Wolf killers want all of Idaho open to trapping and snaring. As of today, 127 wolves have died since August 30th, including at least 32 pups & yearlings. At least 1/3 of reports don’t even list the age of the wolf.
Idaho’s political fist (our red legislature, ranchers, big game outfitters, trophy hunters) aims to reduce wolves to 150 or less in Idaho. It has been a hard pill to swallow to see the Obama administration support this jihad against wolves in Idaho (and Montana and Wyoming).
We strongly suggest that you be extremely careful going anywhere in Idaho with your family, dog, or horse. The people who attended the trapping and snaring classes were sent home with a free snare “for practice”. Snares can quickly choke to death anything that has the misfortune to be caught in it. Bolt cutters (how many of us carry those?) are the only tool that will cut the cable in time to save a life.
Outrageous? Yes. You might encounter traps and snares anywhere. They can be legally set within 10’ from the middle of a trail. No warning signs required. Carry bolt cutters (cost $50). Always hike or ski with three people in case your dog is caught in a trap.
PROTEST THIS ATROCITY AGAINST WOLVES & YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND PETS.
PLEASE PHONE OR EMAIL – BE BRIEF, POLITE & SINCERE.
IDFG Director Virgil Moore: (208) 334-3771 virgil.moore@idfg.idaho.gov
Jon Rachael, IDFG Wildlife Dept. (208) 334-2920 jon.rachael@idfg.idaho.gov
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Governor Butch Otter office – (208) 334-2100
Leave message with secretary.
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EMAIL IDFG COMMISSIONERS
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/about/commission/?getPage=183
Tony McDermott, Chairman
Panhandle Region Commissioner
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Fred Trevey, Clearwater Region
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Gary Power, Salmon Region
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Randy Budge, SE Idaho Region
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Kenny Anderson, Upper Snake Region
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Dr. Wayne Wright, Magic Valley Region
Wolves don’t have cell phones, they don’t have email. We are their only voice. Please speak up!
A Concerned Idaho Resident
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leg hold trap cruelty
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Photo: Courtesy all creatures
Posted in: Animal cruelty, Idaho wolves, Wolf Wars
Tags: leg hold traps, snares, wolf bloodbath, wolf scapegoating, Idaho wolf trapping, wolves suffering
51,200 Dead Oregon Cows Not Killed By Wolves! Where’s The Media?
September 28, 2011
Ok, 51,200 cows died in Oregon in 2010 from non-predation causes. (NASS 2010) This should be front page news, right? When wolves are involved in miniscule livestock losses they make the front pages of local media. So what about those 51,200 cows that weren’t killed by wolves?
Talk about making a mountain out of a mole-hill or big fish stories, this is the mother of all big fish stories.
ODFW is planning on killing the alpha male (pictured above) and another wolf from the Imnaha Pack, for livestock losses so small, they barely register statistically. Yet incredibly large numbers of cows drop dead in Oregon every year and all we hear are “crickets”.
So here we are, two wolves facing a death sentence. Apparently they are being tracked right now.
The alpha female and her pup of the year will be left to face the winter alone, with no help to bring down prey.
Here is B-300 better known as “Sophie”, crossing into Oregon in 2008. She would later become the alpha female of the Imnaha Pack. Look at her scampering along, beautiful and healthy. Little did she know what she was getting into.
In protest of ODFW’s egregious intention to slaughter two perfectly healthy Imnaha wolves, leaving just the alpha female and her pup of the year, two Portland Animal Defense League protesters, Stephanie Taylor and Justin Kay, chained themselves to the ODFW headquarter doors with bike locks.
Two arrested during protest against wolf killings
Posted: Sep 27, 2011 6:31 PM MDTUpdated: Sep 27, 2011 7:31 PM MDT
By Brian MacMillan
SALEM, OR (KPTV) –
For nearly an hour and a half Tuesday morning, protestors took over the front entrance of the Department of Fish and Wildlife in Salem.
“We’ve tried everything from phone calls to the governor, phone calls here, letter writing, protests. Finally today, it ended with an act of civil disobedience,” said Tim Hitchins, with the Portland Animal Defense League.
Read More: http://www.kptv.com/story/15563955/two-arrested-during-wolf-killing-protest
The sad news is this is probably the end of the Imnaha Pack.
Oregon had 1,300,000 cattle at the beginning of 2011. Wolves apparently were responsible for 14 cow losses in 1.5 years. But thousands and thousands of cows were keeling over in Oregon from all manner of things, not wolf related.
Digestive problems
Respiratory problems
Metabolic problems
Mastitis
Lameness/injury
Other diseases
Weather related
Calving problems
Poisoning
Theft
(NASS 2010)
Why aren’t ranchers squawking about this? Those losses COULD affect their “bottom line”, not 14 supposed wolf depredations.
Isn’t it time to call this situation what it is. If if looks like a duck, quacks like a duck then it’s a duck. Plain and simple intolerance of wolves is ruling the day in eastern Oregon. Clearly ranchers don’t want them there and that’s what’s driving this train. The wishes of Oregon’s wildlife advocates and others, who would enjoy seeing wild wolves, apparently don’t count. The scapegoating and hysteria that plague the other wolf states has apparently taken hold in Oregon. Shame. This has completely altered my view of the state.
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Wolf kill order could spell end of Oregon pack
http://m.spokesman.com/stories/2011/sep/27/wolf-kill-order-could-spell-end-of-oregon-pack/
Please continue to call Oregon’s Governor Kitzhaber (503-378-4582) to protest the kill order on the two Imnaha wolves. Ask why wolves are being treated like criminals, collared, tracked continually, when obviously these losses are ridiculously miniscule.
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Videos: Courtesy YouTube
Photo: Courtesy ODFW
Posted in: Wolf Wars, Oregon wolves, Howling For Justice
Tags: wolf scapegoating, Imnaha pack, kill order, Oregon wolves, ODFW, NASS
Speak Out For Wolves!! TakeThe Survey on Idaho’s Deadly 2011 Wolf Hunt Proposal!!!
Idaho Fish and Game wants to know what you think about their deadly wolf hunt proposal. Please tell them and take their survey. Remember they want a seven month-long hunt, that goes right through wolf breeding and denning season, August 30,2011 to March 31, 2012.
They want to use traps and snares. Trappers don’t have to check their traps for up to 72 hours. How frightened and scared will wolves be waiting to die in leghold traps? Many with their families surrounding them unable to help. Is there a nastier way to die?
Trappers can kill up to five wolves.
Hunters can kill 2 wolves each.
There is no quota proposed in most of the state.
Electronic calls can be used throughout the state.
There are approx. 705 wolves in Idaho, not including the new pups of this year. These pups are in danger of losing their lives right along with their parents, either by direct killing by hunters or starvation.
PLEASE SPEAK OUT AGAINST THIS HORROR SHOW. THERE IS NO REASON TO KILL THESE WOLVES.
Wolves were responsible for just 75 cow losses in Idaho in 2010. Yet over 86,000 cows died from NON PREDATION related causes in the same year.
Wolf predation is a red herring used to further agendas.
There are over 100,000 elk in Idaho, there is no elk crisis.
In my opinion this is a political hunt, the state is bowing to hunting and ranching groups, who don’t want wolves in the state. Hundreds and hundreds of wolves could be killed in just one season. Once these wolves are gone they are not coming back. Idaho is talking about managing for 150 wolves. Think about what that means and who is going to keep track of that? The state says there are 1000 wolves in the state counting the pups. So 850 wolves could be slaughtered in this hunt. And IDFG Director Virgil Moore stated this:
”Wolf control actions will take place in and out of the hunting season,” Moore promised.”“
That means wolves will be hunted on two fronts. This could be the end of wolves in Idaho or leave just a token number as ghosts on the landscape. I ask you is this right? Is this just?
SPEAK OUT FOR IDAHO WOLVES!!
Click here to read the proposal
Click here to take the survey.
It’s obvious the survey is written in such a way that it doesn’t give you good choices if you are against the hunting and trapping of wolves. I would concentrate on the comment section to get your point across. Not sure if you have to fill out the rest of the survey to be heard or if they’ll toss it if you don’t answer their self-serving questions. Do the best you can. Do not make threats or sink to the level of the anti-wolf crowd.
Tracking science: Biologist’s findings show forest diversity, health influenced by wolves
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Top Photo: HuntFishGuide Flickr Commons
Bottom Photo: Courtesy AlaskaLoneWolf Flickr Commons
Posted in: Wolf Wars
Tags: Idaho wolf hunt 2011, Take the IDFG Survey, Speak Out for Wolves, wolf persecution, wolf scapegoating, Idaho wolves
What Have They Wrought?
If a policy is wrongheaded, feckless and corrupt, I take it personally and consider it a moral obligation to sound off and not shut up until it’s fixed……David Hackworth
Wolves of the Northern Rockies are in grave danger. They’ve been stripped of their ESA protections and are at the mercy of brutal state management plans. Why? Because a little more than two years ago, in the Spring of 2009, the Obama administration delisted wolves and I’m not going to pretty it up and say it was Ken Salazar who delisted them. Ken Salazar didn’t appoint himself, so let’s do away with the rah, rah I love Democrats BS and call it like it is. If if looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Barrack Obama appointed Ken Salazar, the rancher, to head the Interior. He didn’t do it because he was dumb or misinformed, he did it to curry favor with the red states and the not–so–blue states, like Montana.
Once again wolves were abandoned by Democrats in 2011. Why? Because they are trying desperately to hang onto their Senate majority. So all those Dems that allowed Tester and Simpson to slip the wolf delisting slaughter rider into a must pass budget bill are responsible for what wolves are facing now. 81 Senators voted for the budget bill and Obama signed it into law, case closed. The Democrats sold out wolves and the ESA for votes and there is no way to spin that sad reality.
So what have they wrought? For starters they weakened the ESA and made it vulnerable to political wheeling and dealing. Never before, in the history of the ESA has Congress delisted a species for political expediency. They were willing to throw wolves under the bus to please a small, vocal, radical minority they hoped would vote for Tester if he was seen to be “out wolfing” his opponent Denny Rehburg. I have news for them it’s not going to work. I highly doubt Tester will be re-elected. They’ll lose their Senate majority but they’ll have lost much more. They’ll have lost the support of their base. The people who counted on them to stand up for the ESA and wolves. The people who wrote letters, faxed, phoned, emailed and generally poured their hearts and souls into saving wolves. They betrayed them as much as they betrayed wolves.
Just in case anyone in the Senate happens to read this blog I will tell you what you’ve brought down on wolves in the Northern Rockies. A 220 Montana quota for the fall wolf hunt. That’s 220 wolves marked for death. A tripling of the first Montana wolf hunt quota of 2009. If WS has their way they’ll add another 140 wolves or so to that total. That was the death toll in 2010. Doing the math that totals 360 innocent wolves, almost 2/3 of wolves currently living in Montana.
We can’t forget the upcoming Lolo wolf slaughter. The state of Idaho wants to aerial gun 50 innocent wolves in the middle of pupping season, for elk declines in the Lolo zone. Wolves will be killed for eating their natural prey and their little babies will die right along with them.
This is the wonderful state management the Senate vote brought down on wolves. Did any of the Senators even bother to learn about the toxic climate wolves live under every day of their lives in the Northern Rockies, stirred up by hate groups that would like to see nothing more than wolves total demise in the region? Apparently not.
Do we close our eyes to the horrific ways wolf families will suffer and die in Idaho and Montana? By arrow, by bullet, by leg hold trap, by snare and god only knows what tortures will be dreamed up to hurt them when nobody is looking. It wasn’t so long ago when wolves were poisoned, fed broken glass, dragged behind horses, set on fire, had their penises and jaws sewn shut, even hamstrung and thrown into pits with dogs. Any imaginable torture that could be dreamed up was practiced on wolves during the first Western extermination.
The state of Montana even introduced sarcoptic mange into the wolf population, which still plagues them to this day.
This was and is the ugly face of “wolf hunting”. The same mindset that allowed these horrors to occur once before is alive in the Northern Rockies today.
Sport hunting is animal cruelty couched as a sport. It has nothing to do with sport.
From: The Big Lie (1996) by Dino DiGiacomo
“People who enjoy killing animals have long tried to disguise their barbarity in a cloak of respectability they call “sporthunting.” The fact is, sporthunting does not exist. It never has.
All sports share certain conditions to ensure a sense of fair play and create equal opportunity for all participants. What the animal killers call sport hunting meets none of the conditions of real sports.
“Let’s take a look at some of the criteria that define sport
and why so-called sporthunting fails every one of them.
Willingness to Participate
In any sport, all participants choose to be there. Both boxers want to be in the ring that night, the players on both football teams want to be on the field that day, and both tennis players agree to meet on the court at that time. Sporthunting fails on this point because the animal is never a willing participant.
Knowing When the Contest Will Start
All basketball players are aware of the starting time of the game, giving them time to prepare. Golfers know what time they will tee off. Wrestlers know what time the match will start. They don’t expect their opponent to break into their home and hurt or kill them while they are sleeping or having breakfast with their family, which is what happens to animals because this sporting condition is not met.
Even Chance
All participants are given the same equipment with which to play the game. Both boxers have equally weighted gloves and protective gear, as do football and hockey players. Bowlers are only allowed to throw one ball at a time while all rowers use the same numbers of oars. Sporthunting fails here also because the hunters have airplanes,
automatic weapons, high-powered scopes, steel traps, etc., while the animal has only the equipment it was given at birth.
Equal Prize
The criterion here insures the same prize is awarded to whichever team or player wins the contest. The prize itself may be a trophy, belt or an award, but the commercial and athletic value of that prize is the same for each potential winner. Sporthunting fails miserably on this point because the prize is life itself, but it is not an equal prize. The hunter can only win or draw while the animal can only draw or lose. The hunter wins by killing the animal or draws if the animal manages to escape. Conversely, the animal draws by getting away or loses by being killed. The animal cannot win. Some hunters say that once in a while the animal wins by killing the hunter but that only happens on rare occasions with all the odds stacked against the animal, who is never a willing participant anyway.
I have heard some hunters say that hunting is not about the animals at all. It is, they insist, an awareness of self. Once and for all, let’s not buy into their facade.
Sporthunting is not a sport. It is simply an excuse for unhappy men and women to go out and kill. How do I arrive at the fact they are an unhappy lot? Look around you! Happy people do not take time away from their happiness to go out and kill something.
The real shame is that sporthunters pass this travesty onto their children who will come to believe that killing is a sport.”
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Endangered Wolves Sacrificed in Budget Deal
Glenn Hurowitz
Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy
Posted: 04/11/11 04:09 PM ET
Although Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama stood firm against Republican attempts to repeal clean air and clean water protections, wolves in the Northern Rockies weren’t so lucky.
Under pressure from ranching interests in Montana and Idaho, as well as anti-wolf zealots in those states, Reid and Obama agreed to accept an amendment from Montana Democrat Jon Tester mandating the removal of grey wolves in Idaho and Montana from the endangered species list. For Obama, at least, the move isn’t surprising: his administration backed the Bush administration’s delisting of wolves even though it would allow the two massive states to cut wolf populations to as few as 450 individuals between them.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-hurowitz/endangered-wolves-sacrifi_b_847673.html
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Photo: Courtesy All About Wolves
Posted in: Wolf Wars
Tags: wolf persecution, wolf scapegoating, 81 Senators voted yes, wolves politically delisted
Please Support Alliance For The Wild Rockies & Friends Of The Clearwater
Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Clearwater are consulting with their attorneys about challenging the wolf delisting rider in court, on constitutional grounds.
Please click on the links below to visit their websites. Show your support with generous donations.
They showed courage and conviction, standing firm for wolves while the other ten plaintiffs brokered a deal with USFWS.
Of course the “settlement” by the 10 groups was ultimately rejected by Judge Molloy.
He stated in part:
But the victory was short-lived because the Senate allowed Jon Tester (D-MT) to slip a wolf delisting rider into a must-pass appropriations bill. 81 Senators voted for the budget bill and in turn sold wolves down the river. They even allowed the language of the rider to be rewritten so it wouldn’t jeopardize Wyoming’s court case, in pursuit of delisting their wolves. The rider reads:
“Before the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this division, the Secretary of the Interior shall reissue the final rule published on April 2, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 15123 et seq.) without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule. Such reissuance (including this section) shall not be subject to judicial review and shall not abrogate or otherwise have any effect on the Order and Judgment issued by the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming in Case Numbers 09-CV-118J and 09-CV-138J on November 18, 2010.”
There was literally no support for wolves in the Senate. The months of emailing, faxing and writing Congress were in vain. The most appalling part of this sad story is the majority of Democrats voted for the wolf delisting budget bill. Only three Democrats voted against it. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, also voted no. The rest of the no votes were Republicans.
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Just to remind everyone:
Settlement Between 10 Environmental Groups and USFWS
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=238576
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Groups lay out opposition to proposed wolf settlement
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Judge Blocks Deal Lifting Protections For Wolves
by The Associated Press
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/10/135287332/judge-blocks-deal-on-protections-for-wolves
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Endangered Wolves Sacrificed in Budget Deal
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-hurowitz/endangered-wolves-sacrifi_b_847673.html
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Afraid for Wolves
http://www.friendsofanimals.org/news/2011/april/afraid-for-wolves.html
Photo: Courtesy All About Wolves
Posted in: Wolf Wars, endangered species act
Tags: wolves in peril, wolf scapegoating, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater, political assault on the ESA
Defeat Senate Budget Rider 1709!! Start Calling Senators!!
UPDATE: MARCH 7, 2011
Dearest Wolf Warriors…I’m working on a post that should be finished today, which more fully addresses the current situation we are facing in the Senate. In the meantime continue to use this post and Senator contacts.
We are now fighting Senate budget bill rider 1709, introduced by Senator Jon Tester. It’s exactly the same as 1713 that was introduced into the House budget bill by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID). Tell Senators we want 1709 stripped out of the current Senate CR. We expect them to protect wolves and uphold the integrity of the ESA.
Make sure to keep the calls and faxes coming to the Senate. Concentrate on the key Senators I’ve listed but all Senators need to be called. Onward Wolf Warriors!!!
CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD NUMBERS
1-866.220.0044
1.877.851.6437
Here we go again. Wolves are being used as political footballs, by none other than Senate Democrats. They inserted language into the budget that will strip gray wolves of their ESA protections in the Northern Rockies, with no judicial review. The Dems apparently removed most of the bad riders out of the new CR but left the wolf delisting section in place. We can’t blame the Republicans for this one. Who would have thought Democrats would support a rider that would selectively remove a species from the ESA, damaging its integrity forever? No species will ever be safe again. All for political expediency.
From Living With Wolves Alert:
“In the final hours of Friday, U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii introduced the Senate version of the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the nation’s budget. Sadly, this new version carries the same deadly news for wolves that was contained in the House of Representatives budget bill. It appears that this new wolf rider (Section 1709), promoted by Senator Jon Tester of Montana, is the only anti-environmental rider to resurface in the Senate version of the CR. It contains exactly the same sad language as a rider in the House version of the bill, introduced there by Representative Mike Simpson of Idaho. It is important that our Senators be reminded that the wildlife of this nation belongs to each and every citizen, not to individuals in any one state.“
Senator Tester faces a strong challenge by Rep. Denny Rehberg in 2012 for his Senate seat. Both are trying to out do each other to see who can look more anti-wolf and play to the hunting and ranching lobbies, who would like nothing better than to rid the Northern Rockies of wolves. It looks like the Dems will do anything to hold onto Tester’s seat and their majority in the Senate, even if it means throwing wolves under the bus. To say I’m disgusted would be an understatement.
Wolf Warriors, our strategy is simple. Start faxing and calling the Capital Switchboard this weekend. You can leave messages on the Senators answering machines. When Monday rolls around you’ll be able to speak to the Senator’s aides directly. Let them know how betrayed you feel that they would sacrifice wolves on the altar of political expediency. Ask them if they know wolves could be slaughtered in the hundreds if this so-called budget bill passes. It deserves to be called the “Wolf Slaughter Bill”.
The Senate majority leader,Harry Reid (D-NV), was quoted in the Washington Post on Wednesday, stating the Senate Democrats would fight the addition of riders to the budget bill. Today they did remove most of the riders with one big exception, WOLVES!!
“Reid indicated Wednesday that Senate Democrats will work to oppose the inclusion of those riders in a long-term spending measure.”
“They’re going to go away,” Reid said of the riders on the House-passed bill. “Let them bring these riders they have in individual pieces of legislation. They can pass these pretty easy in the House; send them over here.”
Here is what I will would say to Senator Reid, Majority Leader of the Senate.
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Dear Senator Reid,
Please remove section 1709 of the new Senate CR. It’s the twin of 1713, the rider introduced by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), into the House version of the budget bill, that would delist wolves in the Northern Rockies, without judicial review. Wolves and the ESA do not belong in budget bills.
Why are wolves being targeted for slaughter? Is it worth it to play politics with the ESA and leave wolves defenseless against the hate.
There’s a battle going in the Northern Rockies, called Wolf Wars. It’s pretty nasty and there are many hunters chomping at the bit, waiting for wolves to be delisted. Yet these are America’s wolves. They don’t belong to Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon or Washington. They belong to the American people. Most Americans like wolves and want them protected. Please don’t listen to just special interests from the hunting and ranching lobbies.They have a vested interest in wanting wolves gone.
So many wolves are killed each year already. Five hundred wolves died in the Northern Rockies in 2009. 272 killed by deadly Wildlife Services. 206 by the wolf hunts and another 26 wolves killed by poachers, private citizens, motor vehicle accidents and general wolf morality. There were approx. 520 wolves in Montana before the hunts, the 2010 fall count was 400, down over a hundred wolves.
Senator Reid, wolves can’t take anymore killing. They’ve had their puppies slaughtered, their families destroyed, they are relentlessly hounded and tracked. A wolf hating website even discussed the idea of hunters spreading Xylitol on guts piles so wolves will eat them and die. Xylitol is an artificial sweetener toxic to canines. This is the environment that exists now for wolves in the Northern Rockies, WITH ESA PROTECTION. Can you imagine what will happen to them if control is turned back to the states?
Just before Judge Molloy relisted wolves, Montana had raised the hunt quota to 186, more then doubling the number of wolves that would be killed. They also wanted a wolf archery and back country rifle season. Idaho was discussing trapping, baiting and calling wolves for their 2010 hunts. Sound like a good environment to entrust wolves’ lives too?
Wolves were exterminated once in the West. They are protected under the ESA for a reason It’s not just the number of wolves that exist but the climate they live in. They are used as scapegoats and demonized by special interests, who spread myths and rumors about wolves. This species needs the protection of the ESA.
The anti-wolf crowd couldn’t win in court and now they’re trying an end round the ESA.
Is it right or fair to put wolves lives on the line for a few votes? Is it proper science to allow politicians to make decisions on what species should be listed? Who will be next? Grizzly bears, when they get in someone’s way?
1709 would place the ESA on a slippery slope, destroying its integrity.
Americans won’t forget at the polls, if Democrats turn their backs on the Endangered Species Act!!
You stated last Wednesday the bad riders attached to the budget bill would go away. Well there is one rider that’s conveniently still in the bill, courtesy of Senator Tester. Please stand up for wolves and make sure it is removed.
Thank you,
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Here are the names of key Senators to call. Concentrate on them, then call as many Senators as you can. (We want them to be greeted on Monday with a big pile of faxes, all from wolf advocates.)
We cannot abandon the wolves and let Senate Democrats play election politics with their lives. Shame on any Democrat that supports this. Don’t stop calling until you feel like your dialing finger is going to fall off. They will hear from the American people on this!!!
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
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Key Senators To Contact:
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Bennet, Michael F. – (D-CO)
(202) 224-5852
Fax: (202) 228-5036
Web Form: bennet.senate.gov/contact/
Boxer, Barbara – (D-CA)
(202) 224-3553
Web Form: boxer.senate.gov/en/contact/
Bingaman, Jeff – (D-NM)
(202) 224-5521
Web Form: bingaman.senate.gov/contact/
Email: senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov
Cardin, Benjamin L. – (D-MD)
(202) 224-4524
Fax 202-224-1651
Web Form: cardin.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Thomas Carper, (D-DE)
DC Phone: 202-224-2441
DC Fax: 202-228-2190
Gillibrand, Kirsten E. – (D-NY)
(202) 224-4451
Fax (212) 688-7444
Web Form: gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/
Kerry, John F. – (D-MA)
(202) 224-2742
Web Form: kerry.senate.gov/contact/
Fax: 1-202-228-4054
Lugar, Richard G. – (R-IN)
(202) 224-4814
Web Form: lugar.senate.gov/contact/
Merkley, Jeff – (D-OR)
(202) 224-3753
Fax: (202) 228-3997
Web Form: merkley.senate.gov/contact/
Murray, Patty – (D-WA)
(202) 224-2621
Fax: (202) 224-0238
Web Form: murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Reed, Jack – (D-RI)
(202) 224-4642
Fax 401- 464-6837
Web Form: reed.senate.gov/contact/contact-share.cfm
Reid, Harry – (D-NV)
(202) 224-3542
Fax 202-224-7327
Web Form: reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
Fax: 1-202-228-0776
Schumer, Charles E. – (D-NY)
(202) 224-6542
Fax 202-228-3027
Web Form: schumer.senate.gov/new_website/contact.cfm
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
DC Phone: 202-224-4822
DC Fax: 202-228-0325
Udall, Mark – (D-CO)
(202) 224-5941
Fax 202-224-6471
Web Form: CLICK HERE
Udall, Tom – (D-NM)
(202) 224-6621
Web Form: CLICK HERE
Warner, Mark (D-VA)
DC Phone: 202-224-2023
DC Fax: 202-224-6295
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)
DC Phone: 202-224-5244
DC Fax: 202-228-2717
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI)
(202) 224-2921
Fax 202-228-6362
Web Form: whitehouse.senate.gov/contact/
The Whitehouse
www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461
If you live in Montana, please contact
Tester, Jon – (D-MT)
(202) 224-2644
Web Form: tester.senate.gov/Contact/index.cfm
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Then call the rest of the Senate, as many members as you can, all day every day, until they get the message!!
LIST OF ALL US SENATORS CLICK HERE
Personally, I’m done with the Democratic Party if they go through with this. I will never in my life vote for another Democrat again!!
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TALKING POINTS
-Let the Senators know you support wolves and want them protected.
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-Tell Senators to strip any wolf delisting riders out of the final budget bill. It would delist wolves in the Northern Rockies, without judicial review and requires that states only maintain a population of just 300 wolves in the entire region. This means over 80% of wolves in the Northern Rockies could be slaughtered. It’s wolf breeding season, pregnant alphas could die in the slaughter that would be coming.
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-The states of Idaho and Montana should not be allowed to “manage” wolves. Their prejudice against wolves is overriding good judgement and sound science. Idaho just proposed a bill that would classify wolves as vermin (predator status) and place a $500 bounty on their heads.
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Delisting wolves by inserting this language into a budget will, undermines the ESA and tampers with one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation ever written. Do they want this to happen on their watch?
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-Montana and Idaho politics are dominated by ranching and hunting interests, effectively drowning out the voices of Wildlife Watchers.
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– The budget bill is no place to legislate the fate of wolves or any Endangered Species.
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We are counting on Democrats to do the right thing. We are counting on Senator Reid to stick to his recent statements that the Senate would work to remove the bad riders from a long-term spending budget bill. If they do not do so, wolves will die in the hundreds. Tell the Senators that wolves lives are in their hands.
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I know I’ve said this before but we are facing one of the most serious attacks on gray wolves, since their delisting. The states are hostile to wolves and returning them to state management, without judicial review, will be the end of wolves in the Northern Rockies. They will be doomed. The hatred and prejudice that exists will cause them great suffering and harm.
STAND UP FOR WOLVES NOW!! DO NOT RELENT!! DO NOT GIVE UP!!
WE ARE THEIR ONLY VOICE!!
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Senate bill would lift wolf protections in MT, ID
Senate bill would lift wolf protections in MT, ID
Story Published: Mar 4, 2011 at 7:00 PM MST
Story Updated: Mar 4, 2011 at 7:00 PM MST
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Gray wolves in Montana and Idaho would lose their Endangered Species Act protections under a provision inserted into a U.S. Senate budget bill.
The provision was included in a bill introduced Friday by Senate Democrats to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year.
The passage on wolves is identical to language in a budget measure that passed the House last month. It would require Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reissue within 60 days a 2009 agency rule that turned over control of wolves to state wildlife officials.
That rule was overturned last year by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula. The measure before the Senate would shield Salazar’s actions from court review.
There are an estimated 1,400 wolves in the two states.
CLICK HERE for link to article
Photo: kewlwallpapers.com
Posted in: Wolf Wars, endangered species act
Tags: Senate Democrats sell out wolves, wolves on the brink, playing politics with wolves lives, wolf persecution, wolf scapegoating
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 