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Gray Wolf News "The latest in the Wolf Wars"
bearpaw:
Gray Wolf News
Rather than starting a new topic for every piece of wolf news that I receive almost on a daily basis, it will be easier to start a topic in which I post wolf headlines and wolf news on a continuing basis. If you tag this topic you will see it in your "Show new replies to your posts" every time I add a new Gray Wolf News story.
Two wolf relisting lawsuits and RMEF's letter on Yellowstone wolves
email December 4, 2012
Attached are two lawsuits that have been filed over wolf delisting in Wyoming. Both suits are attempting to put ALL wolves in the northern Rockies under full ESA protection. The first suit (2012 Wolf lawsuit) was filed in a DC court, while the second was filed in Denver.
I have been told that the USFWS has asked the DC court to transfer the first case to a WY court. Please note that this is everyone’s problem, not just Wyoming’s. All states and other effected parties need to intervene in both cases.
- [Dr.] Charles Kay
2012 Wolf Law Suit
(119 Kb 43 page pdf file)
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxTUA0p0wVj5UUN5NDc4N2F1b2M
Complaint_as_Filed-1
(267 Kb 50 page pdf file)
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxTUA0p0wVj5NFlWOXVLWXE3Mk0
David Allen Issues Letter on Yellowstone Park Wolves
Link:
http://tinyurl.com/dyyem73
Monday, December 3, 2012
Robert Ream, Chairman
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission
Helena, MT
Dear Mr. Ream,
We understand that Defenders of Wildlife and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) are currently running a campaign against Montana FWP for allowing hunting and trapping of wolves outside of Yellowstone National Park (YNP). As you know, these hunts are legal, necessary and scientifically sustainable. There is absolutely no science or rationale to support these groups belief that a special "no hunt" zone should be created outside of YNP. Further, we are not aware of any science or rationale to support the attempts of Defenders, GYC and other groups to create a distinction between "Yellowstone wolves" and wolves that exist within the tri-state region of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
The attempt to establish a “buffer zone” for YNP wolves is in direct contrast to the original goal for the wolf reintroduction in the Northern Rocky Mountains (NRM). Never at any time was it planned that "Yellowstone wolves" would be granted amnesty from management once outside of YNP. This is a time when Defenders, GYC and others should be celebrating a successful recovery of the wolf population. However, it seems that there is no such satisfaction. Will there ever be? A substantial number of wolves throughout the three states have come from YNP. Are they to be given special protection status as well? Additionally, hundreds of animals including elk, deer, bighorn sheep, black bears, mountain lions and others are fitted with radio collars for scientific purposes and roam the wilds in and around YNP, but they are not excluded from hunting seasons outside the park. When harvested, the collars are returned to the management agency and the data is utilized. We urge all hunters to return collars to wildlife agencies.
During the recent lawsuits over delisting wolves in the NRM, Defenders, GYC and others strongly proclaimed that borders between states did not matter when considering wolf populations and wolf management. They claimed this so they could keep Montana, Idaho and Wyoming all tied together in the lawsuit. We were all told "an imaginary or arbitrary border or line had no distinction when considering wolf populations.” Now, all of sudden, the YNP border is relevant and any wolf close to it but outside of the park should be protected. It is obvious that Defenders, GYC and others simply wish to continue to protest state-based management of wolves, thus keeping a "wolf controversy alive" for the express purpose of soliciting for more donations.
The reality is Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are each required to manage wolves within a specific set of mandates. If those mandates are not adhered to, then the states run the risk of losing management control and having their wolf population placed back on the Endangered Species List. As it stands today, wolf numbers continue to be well above objective and in need of reduction. Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are not close to risking the greater wolf population of the NRM being relisted under the ESA, and that should be the common goal for all of us.
Those who protest the harvesting of the Yellowstone area wolves seem to gloss over the fact that the primary reason wolves are leaving Yellowstone is for prey. The substantial reduction of the northern Yellowstone elk herd requires these wolves to travel farther for prey. We sincerely wish that those who claim to "defend wildlife" felt some empathy for the thousands of elk that have been lost from the northern Yellowstone elk herd, not to mention the related economic losses. We continue to hear the cry for different science from these special interest groups. We submit that the real science is at work now through state-based management and these groups need to get on board and support it. We have wasted enough taxpayer time and money chasing special interest ideology.
We urge you not to alter or reduce the ability to continue the legal and ethical management, including hunting and trapping, of wolves surrounding the Yellowstone National Park border. Further, we urge our members to communicate their position on this important issue with you.
Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
David Allen
President/CEO
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
JODakota:
Will do bear paw!
bearpaw:
State Needs to Justify Wolf Hunt
By Bob Allen December 4, 2012 - IPR
The Michigan legislature is moving closer to allow a hunting season for gray wolves. There are around 700 wolves in the Upper Peninsula.
If the legislature makes the wolf a game species, then wildlife officials will still have to justify that a hunt is necessary. And that it won’t harm wolf recovery.
Must Meet State Goal
Under state law, there can’t be a recreational wolf hunt for any old reason. Wildlife officials would have to show that a hunt is warranted. And that it would meet the goal of reducing wolf-human conflicts.
“We’ve never had a wolf hunt in Michigan. We don’t know this is exactly what will happen if we do the following steps,” says Adam Bump, a wildlife biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/bo4sdqj
bearpaw:
Court strikes down lawsuit challenging trapping in wolf country
December 4, 2012 posted at Wolf Crossing
ALBUQUERQUE – A U.S. District Court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit alleging the director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the chairman of the State Game Commission violated the federal Endangered Species Act by allowing trapping in the recovery area of the Mexican gray wolf.
U.S. Magistrate Lorenzo Garcia ruled that the environmental activist organization WildEarth Guardians failed to present facts showing the defendants’ actions directly or indirectly caused trappings or taking of wolves. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.
Department Director Jim Lane, who was named in the lawsuit with State Game Commission Chairman Jim McClintic, hailed the decision as a sportsmen’s victory for “real conservationists,” state authority over wildlife management, and the integrity of the Endangered Species Act.
“We fought aggressively to defeat this frivolous lawsuit,” Lane said. “We are happy with the outcome. It’s unfortunate we had to spend hunters’, anglers’ and trappers’ dollars to win it rather than leveraging those same dollars toward on-the-ground conservation of New Mexico’s wildlife.”
Continued:
http://wolfcrossing.org/?p=663
bearpaw:
Idaho Wolf Hunt
Email December 3, 2012
19 year old Devin Jones of Lewiston, ID took advantage of an elk that had been harvested earlier by another party member that attracted a wolf pack. He was successful at taking 2 Lobo’s with his great grandpa’s old 100 year old 30-30!
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