A Simpler Rendition Of Why Judge Molloy’s Reasoning Is Ignorant
June 18, 2010
Sometimes in my excitement to get the message out, I get wordy and fail to get the real message across. As I traveled yesterday I began thinking about how I could, in a much simpler way, just say why U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy’s notion that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can’t exclude Wyoming from the wolf delisting process. He said that legally he was having a difficult time seeing how USFWS could separate Wyoming from what was originally the Northern Rocky Mountains, Non Essential Experimental, Distinct Population Segment.
Let’s try this explanation. In the beginning the USFWS declared all 48 lower states where protecting the gray wolf. There were and still are tons of wolves in Canada and Alaska to our north. In essence wasn’t the USFWS declaring the contiguous 48 states a Distinct Population Segment? Nobody seemed to have a problem with that.
Then over the course of a few years, the USFWS created the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment, as well as the Northern Rockies and the Southwest. Cutting out three segments within the original 48-state DPS didn’t seem to bother anybody.
Then the USFWS decides to cut Wyoming out of the NRM DPS and delisting wolves in other areas around it, then all of a sudden one judge doesn’t see how this can legally be done. The same happened in the Western Great Lakes when the USFWS wanted to get a portion of the WGL DPS delisted.
It would seem that there should be no confusion at all. If Molloy can find the law to prohibits this action, then where’s the confusion. If Molloy can find the law that allows this action, then where’s the confusion?
I think Judge Molloy’s only confusion is whether or not he wants to return wolves to the Endangered List because he can and then have the responsibility of the complete destruction of many wild ungulate herds, more and more slaughtering of private property livestock, etc.
Tom Remington
http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/2010/06/18/a-simpler-rendition-of-why-judge-molloys-reasoning-is-ignorant/
