19 October 2010, 18:41
kudu56Idaho relinquishes wolf management;
This guy has the right idea. It was a federal program and is a federal problem that needs to be addressed, forced on states.
Idaho bucks judge’s wolf decision
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — After talks with the
federal government over a public wolf hunt collapsed,
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter ordered Idaho
wildlife managers Monday to relinquish their
duty to arrest poachers or to even investigate
when wolves are killed illegally.
Otter rejected the wolf management Idaho
has conducted for years as the federal government’s
“designated agent” after a federal judge
in Montana returned wolves to Endangered
Species Act protections earlier this year.
This means Idaho Department of Fish and
Game managers will no longer perform
statewide monitoring for wolves, conduct investigations
into illegal killings, provide law
enforcement when wolves are poached or participate
in a program that responds to livestock
depredations.
With U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy’s
ruling in August, Idaho and Montana have had
to cancel public hunts. That’s especially irked
Otter, who contends the first legal harvest that
started in 2009 and ended earlier this year
demonstrated that states could manage wolves
responsibly.
In an angry letter to U.S. Interior Secretary
Ken Salazar, the Republican governor said
withdrawing from wolf management will keep
Idaho hunters and their money from subsidizing
the federal program. Without the possibility
of a hunt, there’s no incentive for Idaho to
manage wolves now, Otter aides said.
“Frustration, mostly,” Otter told reporters
late Monday, on what led to his decision. “We’re
no longer going to spend any sportsmen’s dollars
in Idaho to enforce the Endangered Species
Act as it relates to the experimental project of
wolves.”
Otter also accused the federal government of
foisting wolves upon Idaho — he calls them
“your wolves” — and promised to quickly submit
plans asking for special permission to kill
dozens of wolves to protect big game herds.
A spokeswoman for Salazar said the Interior
Department would continue to work with
states but the court ruling in August restoring
protections left its options limited.
“We cannot currently authorize the resumption
of sport hunting of wolves,” said Kendra
Barkoff. “Up to this point, we appreciate the
states of Idaho and Montana who have been
working responsibly to manage wolves;
nonetheless, we must follow the court’s ruling.”
It’s unclear just how Idaho
wolves will be managed now.
Between 1995 and 2005, the Nez
Perce Tribe in north-central Idaho
managed the predators, before the
state stepped in. But the tribe said
Otter didn’t approach them before
pulling out.
“We just hope the state will
come back to the table,” said
Brooklyn Baptiste, vice chairman
for the Nez Perce Tribe.
“Ultimatums are really hard to
take back, especially in an atmosphere
of re-election.”
Keith Allred, Otter’s
Democratic rival in the Nov. 2
gubernatorial race, said the governor
was handing over an issue to
the federal government that rightfully
belongs in Idaho’s hands.
“Butch Otter just gave away
more state power to the federal
government,” said Allred. “We need
to be asserting our sovereignty, not
giving it away.”
Montana Fish, Wildlife and
Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim
said his state’s approach has not
changed, despite Idaho’s move.
“We continue to look for ways to
get management responsibilities
returned to the state of Montana,”
Aasheim said.
Idaho has about 850 wolves and
insists the species is recovered in
the northern Rocky Mountains
after its reintroduction to the
region in the mid-1990s.
Molloy in Missoula restored
Endangered Species Act protections
following a lawsuit from
environmentalists who argued
Idaho and Montana wolves could
not be under state control while
Wyoming wolves remained under
federal control.
Douglas Honnold, lead attorney
with Earthjustice who represented
the environmental groups, said
Otter’s decision goes in the wrong
direction.“Instead of throwing up
their hands and walking away
from the wolf issue, Idaho should be getting to work on a wolf management
plan that complies with
the law,” Honnold said from his
offices in Bozeman, Mont.
Otter’s advisers had been negotiating
with Salazar and other federal
officials since September on a
plan for Idaho to continue to manage
wolves within its borders.
Among other things, Otter
wanted to hold a public hunt and
insisted on provisions giving state
managers more power to kill
wolves that prey on elk, moose or
deer in areas where the state says
big game herds are suffering.
“Today I join many Idahoans in
questioning whether there is any
benefit to being a designated agent
without the flexibility of a public
hunt,” Otter said, adding he’s
doubtful continuing as designated
agent would speed up the delisting
process.
Republican U.S. Sens. Jim Risch
and Mike Crapo separately have
introduced a bill that aims to
exempt wolves in Idaho from federal
protections that were restored
by Molloy’s order.
30 October 2010, 00:02
Outdoor WriterFrom the Outdoor Wire:
Calling For Calm With Wolves
Editor's Note: Wolves have become a heated issue across the American West. With their spread, the controversy over managing their growing population - and protecting the wildlife and livestock they've decimated in some regions has grown to a near flash point. Today, seven wildlife organization's leaders are calling for calm.
Calling for Order in Wolf Debate
Many hunters are rightfully angry that a federal judge has put the gray wolf back under federal protection based on legal technicalities. Taking management away from state authorities allows wolves to multiply and spread. Wolves are already so plentiful they are cutting down herds of elk, moose, and deer, and are also killing livestock and pets. Wolves need to be controlled and we must continue toward that goal in an orderly fashion.
We sportsmen want to bring wolves under state management because this will sustain wolves, control the problems that wolves cause, and protect wolves from poachers. To do so, we look forward to working with other affected citizens, government, and other allies to clear up the legal technicalities and finalize the transfer to state management. This way wolves will be managed the same way as other wildlife based on the best available science with protections against illegal killing.
State management of wolves is best for the wolves and people, and wolf populations are so large now that the time is past due.
State management will be the best deal wolves have ever had. Wolves have never been managed sustainably in the lower 48 states. State and federal governments purposefully eradicated wolves, and then restored them under complete federal protection. This full protection has restored wolf numbers far beyond recovery goals: all 6 states with gray wolves in the lower 48 have at least doubled the number of wolves beyond their recovery goals. Idaho is at least 8 times over its goal. There are about 3,000 wolves in Minnesota, 600 each in Wisconsin and Michigan, at least 800 wolves in Idaho, 500 in Montana, and 300 in Wyoming.
Switching to state management will not be easy: federal and state managers have tried it 3 times in the last 7 years, having each effort struck down either because the law was fuzzy on how it could happen or too strict about why it cannot. These interpretations in federal district court are the latest examples of judges second-guessing government experts - an error for which the next highest appeals court has admonished its judges.
To achieve state management, hunters need to turn their anger into passion, speak up, and ask for hard but fair commitments from state and federal government. We need passion the way Theodore Roosevelt had passion in creating American conservation, which is our legacy and heritage to perpetuate. We need to stay in the arena of debate and decision and stay out of the bogs of blame and bad-mouthing. It is self-defeating to blame or antagonize federal and state officials. They agree with us on what needs to happen and we need their help. We need hard commitments from them to try new approaches within current law and, ideally, to change law and policy to close loopholes.
This complex task is already underway through a cooperative partnership between the state and federal governments. The Obama Administration has already filed an appeal of the recent federal court ruling. States have petitioned for greater management authority. Legislators from Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have begun meeting to devise a solution and have invited the federal government's participation. We appreciate these straight-up attempts that demonstrate the resolve of our government. We acknowledge the sovereign authority of each state to manage its own laws and budgets.
Finally, as we seek hard commitments from government, we also need to draw a hard line for ourselves: we are sportsmen, not wolf-haters. Statements on the Internet about poaching wolves are an affront to the American conservation ethic. Illegal killing is wrong, self-defeating, and exactly opposite of how sportsmen created conservation and the privilege of ethical hunting in the first place. Hunters in America fought poachers and pushed for laws to regulate hunting. Later, sportsmen paid fees and taxes on our own licenses and equipment to fund wildlife restoration that brought wildlife back to abundance, including the game we hunt. Ours is a history of self-restraint and respect for wildlife.
Today we are asking for wolves to be brought under modern state management. We will pursue this goal with the diligence we take to hunting itself, working professionally with the agencies, seeking allies, and pushing forward the policies that will prevent this tragedy from happening again with other wildlife.
Boone and Crockett Club
Lowell E. Baier, President
Mule Deer Foundation
Miles O. Moretti, President/CEO
Pope and Young Club
Roger Atwood, President
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
M. David Allen, President/CEO
Safari Club International and Safari Club International Foundation
Dr. Larry Rudolph, President
Wild Sheep Foundation
Gray N. Thornton, President/CEO
Wildlife Management Institute
Steven A. Williams, President
