At least that's what the news said this a.m. Rumor is F and G may allow electronic calls, but we'll see.

Also the news said F and G may use planes etc to gun down some wolves in Lolo zone before the elk drop their calves.

Now if we could only get a little spring weather around here.

That's great, anyone having wolf on their ranches that need one shot feel free to contact me I would love to help out the elk heard.

May 6, 2011:

Three environmental groups joined to file a lawsuit Thursday to return federal protection to gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, arguing that politicians are deciding the fate of an endangered species.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. inserted a provision — calling for delisting the gray wolf — in the 459-page budget bill passed by Congress on April 15. There are at least 566 gray wolves in Montana.

Wolves were returned to state management Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in compliance with Tester's delisting law, and a wolf hunting season in Montana is now in the works for this fall.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula by The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians.

Approximately 1,600 wolves in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and parts of Oregon, Utah and Washington make up the Northern Rockies population, but Wyoming wolves were not included in the plan and remain federally protected.

The lawsuit states that the separation of power doctrine of the U.S. Constitution was violated because Congress sidestepped the Endangered Species Act and a previous ruling by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy that rejected the same delisting plan lawmakers implemented.

"We have to police our constitution or it becomes a meaningless document," said Jay Tutchton, an attorney for the conservation groups.

The Interior Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are named as defendants in the case.

The lawsuit, which was assigned to Molloy's court, asks that the section of the federal appropriations bill referring to the delisting be declared unconstitutional and that federal protections be restored to wolves.

Chris Tollefson, a Washington, D.C.-based spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said he hadn't seen the lawsuit as of Thursday and couldn't comment on its specifics. He noted that language in Tester's so-called "rider" excludes the rule from judicial review.

"What we've done is implement what Congress has directed us to do," he said.

Tester spokesman Aaron Murphy said the state of Wyoming was holding Montana hostage through a technicality in the Endangered Species Act prior to Tester's provision delisting wolves.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2009 plan to delist wolves included Montana and Idaho, but it kept protections in place for wolves in Wyoming because federal wildlife officials were not satisfied with that state's management plan.

In August 2010, Molloy rejected that delisting proposal, ruling it treated portions of the Northern Rockies wolf population differently, in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

"So Jon fixed this unprecedented problem with a responsible solution that doesn't remove wolves from the Endangered Species Act altogether — as some lawmakers want to do," Murphy said.

He added that federal protections could be restored if wolf populations fall below recovery goals.

Tutchton, the attorney for the conservation groups, said this is the first time Congress has legislated the delisting of a particular species. Congress, he argued, ran "roughshod over the process established in the Endangered Species Act," and illegally repealed Molloy's ruling rejecting the 2009 delisting plan.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service typically proposes delisting under the Endangered Species Act.

Most Montanans, Murphy said, understand that the delisting provision doesn't explicitly repeal a judicial ruling or change the Endangered Species Act.

"It simply restores an approved, science-based decision that allowed Montana to responsibly manage its wolves like any other recovered species," Murphy said.

Michael Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said attorneys for the conservation groups haven't decided whether to seek a preliminary injunction to stop the delisting plan until the lawsuit is decided.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said the state was proceeding with a proposed hunting season planned for this fall. The FWP Commission will consider a proposed quota of 220 wolves during a meeting May 12.

"Until any action is taken by the court where it's been filed, we have no plans to change our plans," Aasheim said.

Lets get on with the hunting of these wolves.

I've talked to several Idaho hunters that have said that if they see a wolf that they are going to let the air out of it, even if they don't have a wolf tag. I'm not sure, but I think tags are $185.00 (out of state) and the fine for not having a tag is somewhere around $225.00
I say save the elk and moose population in and around northern Idaho.

tags went on sale today---$11.50 out of state are more. Season hasn't been set yet.

Remember last time we had a full season there were somthing like 20k+ tags sold and less than 200 shot.
We didn't make the harvest goal.
It's not like every time you throw a beer can out the window you hit one or two.
I've only seen one, heard a few but only seen one.
I'll be buying my tag tommorrow. Season probably won't open till september.

quote:

Originally posted by Sidnye:
tags went on sale today---$11.50 out of state are more. Season hasn't been set yet.

Remember last time we had a full season there were somthing like 20k+ tags sold and less than 200 shot.
We didn't make the harvest goal.
It's not like every time you throw a beer can out the window you hit one or two.
I've only seen one, heard a few but only seen one.
I'll be buying my tag tommorrow. Season probably won't open till september.

FWIW...in western MT during the archery season we saw quite a few...most WELL within shootable distance of a good rifle...simply by using a cow call orr to a lesser degree bugling.

Like using a rabbit call for coyotes.

YMMV

I'd love to see the wolves thinned out. NO doubt they are impacting the elk herds negatively.

These "Friends of wolves" organizations amaze me. Unless their goal is to kill the elk hunting?

Between the wolf and the bison lovers I've never seen a more wrong headed group. Oh Wait...the gun control folks.

FN in MT

FN, I take great offence to your statement..I am a bison lover myself.......


I love the burger, steaks, cubed steak, summer sausage, breakfast sausage,........

troy

Are you sure the second season ever closed...?

Rich

For Immediate Release



Commission Lays out Framework for Idaho Wolf Management

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission Thursday, May 19, directed the Fish and Game Department to:

1. Manage wolves in a manner that will ensure wolves remain under responsible state management in conjunction with the rest of Idaho’s wildlife.

2. Manage wolves as big game animals consistent with the goals and objectives of the 2002 Idaho Wolf Conservation and Management plan approved by the Idaho Legislature and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to keep wolves off the Endangered Species List.

3. Control wolves where they depredate on livestock and other domestic animals or threaten human safety.

4. Control the population of wolves and other predators as needed to address areas where elk or other prey populations are below management objectives.

5. Develop wolf hunting season recommendations for consideration at the Commission’s July 2011 meeting and develop trapping recommendations.

6. Conduct additional species management planning as appropriate.

Commissioners also agreed to support the state of Idaho’s legal defense of challenges to state management, such as those lawsuits challenging the 2011 congressional action for wolf delisting, and urge Congress to continue to provide funding for monitoring, control and depredation compensation related to the wolf population introduced by the federal government into Idaho.



IDFG

Thanks for the update.

There is talk that Judge Molloy is thinking about stopping the Montana and Idaho wolf hunt again!!!!

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Lefforge:
There is talk that Judge Molloy is thinking about stopping the Montana and Idaho wolf hunt again!!!!

Steve

As long as Judge Molloy is in law he will stay his line. I doubt any judge wants their rulings overturned. BTW even retired he can rule on any case he sees fit to.


............

No limit no closed season would be nice. It would not kill all of them but it would keep the numbers in check and keep them to the wildest places where they belong.