Wolves - Get Them Managed Now (The Best Shot)

[bearpaw]

Getting legislation passed in Washington DC is a political maneuvering game and many people said it couldn't be done with wolves. Right now there is a huge power struggle in DC and both major parties are worried about winning the senate majority in the next election. Legislators from both major parties are being convinced that wolves could be a major defining issue in the 2012 elections. By sending an email message to your legislators you can help make the difference in national legislation passing to give wolf management back to the states. H.R. 509 and S.B. 249  would delist gray wolves and give management to the states.

When wolf groups convinced Judge Donald Malloy in Missoula to put wolves back under federal protection of the Endangered Species Act, they did not realize they were waking up three sleeping giants, and arming them with the resolve to fix a badly broken system. Ranchers, Sportsmen, and Sportswomen across America are writing and calling their legislators and asking for an end to the unregulated wolf madness that is devastating big game herds and costing ranchers thousands in Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Oregon, Wyoming and other states.

See Language: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr509ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr509ih.pdf

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(j) Exemption of Gray Wolf- This Act shall not apply to any gray wolf (Canis lupus).

Legislators from 31 states have already committed to supporting H.R. 509 and S.B. 249, but a few more legislators are needed. I received a phone call this morning and have been asked to try and generate email from 1000 people to their legislators in Washington DC.


I’m Doing My Part, Here’s How You Can Help

1.  Send Your Message (Automated System):  http://capwiz.com/biggameforever/home/  
2.  Ask 6 Friends and Family To Do The Same (Automated System):  http://capwiz.com/biggameforever/taf/
3.  Pass This Map Around Showing Nationwide Legislative Support:  http://graywolfnews.com/pdf/bgf_cosponsor_map_2-23-11_vs2.pdf
4.  Pass This Link Around Showing Wolf News Headlines:  http://graywolfnews.com/


My message below is sent, I am asking my friends and family to send their message:

Dear Legislator,
Please Support H.R. 509 and S.B. 249 to delist gray wolves. This legislation will allow each state the ability to manage wolves, a species that no longer meets the definition of an endangered species. This is a defining issue for sports folks, ranchers, and citizens across the west.
Please review this webpage to get more info about the issue: www.graywolfnews.com

I believe this will be a defining issue in many elections in 2012. Please support these Bills.

Sincerely,
Dale Denney

Email:  info@graywolfnews.com
Web:  www.GrayWolfNews.com

[bearpaw]

Right now a lot is happening in DC, just got this message:



Folks,
 
We need your help today and tomorrow.  Please call Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska (202)224-6551.  Ask Senator Nelson to join Senator Hatch as a cosponsor of S.249, the American Big Game and Livestock Protection Act.
 
Senator Nelson is a prominent democratic senator and an avid hunter.  Thank him for his leadership on hunting issues in Congress for many years.  He is a true champion for protecting the rights of all Americans to hunt and fish.
 
We need his leadership once again in following the lead of Teddy Roosevelt and others who worked past politics to ensure the future of America’s wildlife.  Let’s flood his office with calls of support for joining S.249.
--
Ryan Benson
http://biggameforever.org/
ryandbenson@msn.com

[bearpaw]

Got a message back within a couple hours from Maria Cantwell, you know who is up for re-election next in WA. Here's her message:


Dear Mr. Denney,
 
Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding the removal of the northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolf from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue and sincerely regret the delayed response.
 
As you may know, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) into law on December 28, 1973. The ESA, administered primarily by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), protects species identified as endangered or threatened from extinction and attempts to protect the habitat on which they depend. Dwindling species can be placed on the list as either endangered or threatened according to assessments of the risk of their extinction. The Secretary of Interior, or in some cases the Secretary of Commerce, makes the official decision to add or remove a species from the list based on the best available scientific information.
 
The gray wolf was among the first animals protected under the Endangered Species Preservation Act, a predecessor to the ESA. In 1978, the gray wolf was listed as endangered in all of the contiguous 48 states except Minnesota, where it was listed as threatened. The protections for the gray wolf have been diminishing since, as wolf populations have increased in some areas. The use of distinct population segments (DPSs), which allows species to be divided into distinct groups, has played a role in that reduced protection.
 
On January 14, 2009, FWS announced rulemaking to delist the Northern Rocky Mountains DPS, which includes all of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, the eastern third of Washington and Oregon, and a small corner of north-central Utah.  According to FWS, all threats to wolf population in the northern Rocky Mountains, except the lack of state regulation in Wyoming, have been resolved. The Wyoming population was not delisted under this rule because FWS found that Wyoming's regulatory framework to allow killing wolves would not maintain the targeted population goals for a viable population.  The final rule took effect on May 4, 2009.
 
On August 5, 2010, a U.S. District Court in Montana found this rule invalid and threw out the delisting.  The court found that segregating the Wyoming wolves from the rest of the Northern Rockies DPS violated federal law.  The ESA does not allow for the listing or delisting of part of a DPS, as the FWS final rule had done with the Wyoming wolves.  In compliance with this rule, the FWS reinstated ESA protections for the Northern Rocky Mountain wolves.
 
Following this ruling, several bills have been introduced in the Senate to remove the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves from ESA lists of endangered or threatened species under the ESA.  Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Jon Tester (D-MT) introduced the Restoring State Wildlife Management Act of 2010 (S. 3864).  If enacted, this bill would remove ESA protects for any Rocky Mountain gray wolves located in Idaho or Montana.  Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced a similar bill to remove ESA protections for all gray wolves (S. 3919).  Finally, Senator James Risch (R-ID) has introduced the State Wolfe Management Act (S. 3825), to remove all Northern Rocky Mountain wolves from ESA listings, with the option of re-listing five years after enactment.  All three bills are currently pending in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
 
Please be assured that I share your concerns about the importance of ensuring the safety and vitality of gray wolf populations in the state of Washington and across the northwest, and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.
 
Thank you again for contacting me to share your thoughts on this matter.  You may be interested in signing up for my weekly update for Washington State residents. Every Monday, I provide a brief outline about my work in the Senate and issues of importance to Washington State.  If you are interested in subscribing to this update, please visit my website at http://cantwell.senate.gov.  Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance.
 

Sincerely,
Maria Cantwell
United States Senator

For future correspondence with my office, please visit my website at
http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html

[MtnMuley]

The most important part of that letter is to remember that "Cant-do-well"  is up for re-election next year, and we MUST rid our state of her filth.

[Bigshooter]

I've sent around 500 emails in the last week about this.  I'll send a few more today.