new wolf info?

[BuzzH]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GRAY_WOLF_ENDANGERED?SITE=AZPHG&SECTION=HOME

Government makes decision on gray wolf protection

By MATTHEW BROWN and JOHN FLESHER
Associated Press Writer



BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- The Bush administration says it is removing gray wolves in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountains from the federal endangered species list.

But Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett said Wednesday wolves in Wyoming will remain under federal jurisdiction because that state has not done enough to assure their survival.

The government has tried previously to remove wolves in both regions from the endangered list and return management authority to the states. But the efforts have been overruled by courts.

Last September, a federal judge sided with animal-rights groups that accused the government of misapplying the law when it lifted protections for about 4,000 wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2007.

---

John Flesher reported from Traverse City, Mich.

© 2009 The Associated Press.

 

[BigHornRam]

Let's hope it holds up in court this time.

 

[BuzzH]

It should, the problem is being dealt with (Wyoming).

Oh, and Wyoming deserves exactly what its getting. Trying to appease the welfare ranchers has bit the entire state in the ass.

 

[Oak]

It will be amusing to hear the Wyoming wolf hunters squeal like piggies if this plan passes muster.

 

[drahthaar]

I am kind of shocked by this, at least the timetable. Didn't expect any talk of this for another year or so.

Does this mean FWS has something in the hopper to refute the genetic exchange requirements between states? Its gonna come up again in the courtroom.

 

[BigHornRam]

So Buzz,

If it fails again in court, and most likely it will. Will you finally admit that Wyoming's plan wasn't really the issue here?

Last minute push by the Bush Administration drahthaar. Let's hope they did their homework this time.

 

[BigHornRam]

Press release from your buddy's at DOW for you Buzz........Welcome to the Big League Barack!

Bush administration rushes to strip protections from Northern Rockies wolves
Despite previous court decisions, administration again ignores Endangered Species Act requirements

WASHINGTON, DC. – Today, in a last-ditch effort by the Bush administration to undermine environmental protections, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that the Northern Rockies gray wolf will be taken off the Endangered Species List. This decision is yet another attempt to prematurely strip wolves of legal protection before the clock runs out next Tuesday on the most anti-environment administration in American history.

The Bush administration’s prior effort to delist the Northern Rockies wolf was rebuffed in federal court and then voluntarily withdrawn by the FWS shortly afterwards. This latest attempt to remove federal protection for wolves is not based on new science and does not fix the legal deficiencies cited by the federal court when it blocked the previous delisting attempt. Moreover, in rushing to again delist wolves, the Bush administration ignored calls by Defenders of Wildlife and others to involve stakeholders throughout the region in developing a strategy that addresses inadequate state wolf management plans, particularly in Wyoming and Idaho, and meets the requirements of the Endangered Species Act.

Below is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife, regarding today’s announcement.

“This blatantly political maneuver is hardly surprising. The Bush administration has been trying to strip Endangered Species Act protections from the Northern Rockies wolf since the day it took office – no matter the dire consequences of prematurely delisting wolves prematurely and without adequate state protections in place.

“The Bush administration is forcing the future of wolves in the region to play out in the courts by finalizing a delisting rule in its last hours in office. We intend to challenge this poorly constructed decision in court as soon as the law allows. It is outrageous that the Bush administration has chosen to create this unnecessary legal problem for the new Obama administration to deal with as it takes office.

“It is nonsensical to rush this rule through when states have plans in place to kill hundreds of wolves as soon as they’re delisted from federal protection. If the wolf population drops to the minimum of 300 to 450 wolves in the entire region, we already know, based on the most current science, that it cannot remain genetically viable for the long-term.

“We need to slow the process down and make sure it is done right – using science as the benchmark for recovery goals. Today’s delisting rule fails adequately to address biologists’ concerns about the lack of genetic exchange among wolf populations in the Northern Rockies.

“If allowed to stand, this rule would mean that the Northern Rockies wolf population could be slashed by as much as two-thirds, placing approximately 1,000 of the region’s roughly 1,450 wolves in peril. This is a loss from which they most likely would be unable to recover.”

“We trust that the Obama administration will see this for what it is, one last anti-environment blast from the most anti-environment administration in American history. We look forward to working with the new administration to fix this and to ensure wolf recovery that truly merits taking wolves off the endangered species list. That will be an accomplishment to celebrate.”

Below is a statement from Suzanne Asha Stone, Defenders of Wildlife representative for the Northern Rockies:

“Ramming through a flawed plan that has already been rejected by the courts doesn’t make any sense. The bottom line is wolves are a wildlife resource and an important part of our natural resources heritage. Wolves should be managed to maintain sustainable healthy populations, the way we manage mountain lions, bears and other wildlife. The states should not be allowed to kill two thirds of our regional wolf population just because wolves lose federal protection.

Our regional residents need a science based delisting plan that addresses the needs of both wolves and people. Instead of forcing this issue back into the courts, the Service should help bring all interested parties to the table, allowing stakeholders to iron out solutions to the management conflicts. We can move forward to delisting, and we should, but only under rationale conditions.

Our only reasonable course of action is again to challenge the delisting in court until the Service takes a science based approach towards long term recovery goals for wolves in the Northern Rockies.”

 

[TheTone]

Does this mean FWS has something in the hopper to refute the genetic exchange requirements between states? Its gonna come up again in the courtroom.

They should, the eastern part of Idaho is sharing a bunch of wolves with Wyoming and Montana, not to mention the fact that all three states often "lose" collared wolves only to have them show up in one of the others when the frequencies are searched for.

 

[drahthaar]

They don't lose them all. I found a collar at the end of this hunting season. Kind of wierd, I found it in a pile of a deer carcass. There was no dead wolf around, just a collar. Very odd.

 

[BigHornRam]

"Last September, a federal judge sided with animal-rights groups that accused the government of misapplying the law when it lifted protections for about 4,000 wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2007."

So what is different in this region this go round vs. last attempt? Their management plan doesn't even call for a hunting season.

 

[1_pointer]

If I were a betting man, I wouldn't betting on the new administration lifting any of the ESA protection. Meaning that, about any which way it's sliced, I see wolves being protected in WY for some time yet...

 

[MNHunter]

"Last September, a federal judge sided with animal-rights groups that accused the government of misapplying the law when it lifted protections for about 4,000 wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2007."

So what is different in this region this go round vs. last attempt? Their management plan doesn't even call for a hunting season.

That's what I want to know. All I've read is that the gov't disagreed with the judge so they delisted again. We have more wolves in MN that you have in the entire Rockies (I know, I know, the wolves in the Rockies are 10 feet tall and eat 3 elk per day per pup and shoot balls of fire outta their asses).

 

[BigHornRam]

The new administration won't be delisting the wolves Pointer. The old administration will. The Obama Administration can reverse this decision. From today's paper.....

State and federal officials also acknowledged that incoming Obama administration appointees could amend or reverse the delisting decision if they wished.

Interesting to see if Salazar get's any questions on this today.......

 

[BigHornRam]

That's what I want to know. All I've read is that the gov't disagreed with the judge so they delisted again. We have more wolves in MN that you have in the entire Rockies (I know, I know, the wolves in the Rockies are 10 feet tall and eat 3 elk per day per pup and shoot balls of fire outta their asses).

Difference between here and there MN, is the Rocky's have concentrated winter range where the wolves are making an impact on our game herds. Your tofu eating, Al Franken voting, public opinion is a little different too.

Looks to me like the Bush Administration is giving the Obama Administration an early opportunity to say hello to the wolf kooks.

 

[TheTone]

drahthaar,

Was the collar you found chewed on significantly? I know we've seen cases where other members of a pack have chewed the collared off the collared individual.

 

[BigHornRam]

Or could it have been a collared deer? Maybe they were doing a deer study in that area?

 

[Oak]

Maybe deer have started eating wolves!

 

[BigHornRam]

Maybe deer have started eating wolves!

Don't tell TLC!

 

[drahthaar]

Nope, I was just heading back to my truck, probably 1/2 mile from the main road, following some random deer trail, came upon a dead deer, old, from the summer probably, just hair and dry bones. Then I noticed the collar, no bones through it, just stuck down in the hair and bones and grass. Perfectly in tact. You could see where they put the bolts and nuts on it, then smeared some black adhesive over them. My first thought was some mulie was collared, I have seen mulie does collared before, but this had a battery pack/gps device on it. The deer collars I have seen are just wide yellow bands. Then I saw the hair stuck in the black junk. I called the wolf guy here, I have communicated a lot with him before with all the pics from my trail cams, I try to keep tabs on the movements of the Ksanka Peak pack on and off the area I hunt. I have two collared wolves on my cams. He told me they lost the signal from both wolves last spring. He sent it in to the company and it came back wolf number something something, one of the wolves I had on camera, collared years ago.

The whole thing is odd, he said these collars just don't slip off. I started second guessing myself, thinking there was a dead wolf there, then the snow hit, I went back to try to find the spot but couldn't under 6 inches of snow. I am going back when the snow melts. I know it was hair and not fur, I always pay special attention to stuff like that, coyotes, or bears, I always look for skull. I am itching to go back and see if I really dropped the ball on that.

 

[JoseCuervo]

So Buzz,

If it fails again in court, and most likely it will. Will you finally admit that Wyoming's plan wasn't really the issue here?

Last minute push by the Bush Administration drahthaar. Let's hope they did their homework this time.

This one is a classic "what if" from BigWhore..... Buzz has been right 5 times on this topic, BigWhore has been wrong 5 times on this topic, but BigWhore asks for a concession on the 6th time, despite his losing record...

"What if" pigs start flying, will they be called birds?