The USFWS knew Wolves were ok in 02…its 08. The orginal Tri-State numbers were 30 breeding pairs, and 300 animals. We are now at 89 breeding pairs and 1,243 animals. It makes me wonder why the 6 year delay in delisting. Makes me think USFWS likes the wolf program money. Honestly, I want the $2M a year for the Tri-states to do real native species restoration…namely Elk, Moose Deer, etc.

This entire Wolf program has all the haulmarks of every other agenda/initiative driven by touchy-feely politics as opposed to principled decision making…you got your activists throwing money around, stooges in DC making blind determinations, and the responsible agency running the propoganda campaign…the USFWS spewing the propoganda and making it sound like these animals belong here (i.e. Rocky Mountain Gray Wolves) isn’t going to change the fact that they imported a foreign killing machine. Originally, they did so because too few USFWS folks had the guts to say “BAD IDEA” to the DC crowd. Then once they saw the program dollars, what was their urgency…right???! Why reccomend anything but more of the same…that is of course until the light of day shone on the disaster that this program has become.

We can blame the tree huggers…or whatever you want to label the lifetime “causers” who initiate this crap…but they would have had no place to go had the USFWS just stuck to the plan…don’t let the USFWS off the hook.

We too are culpable…Shame on us for not Screeming FRAUD, WASTE, and ABUSE around about 2004. The way I see it, the USFWS’s and all Fed decisions are bound by the notion that they must seek benefit to the Tax payer. We have historically allowed for restoration of native flora and fauna as good and dilligent expenditure of Fed dollars…all contributors to the common good end of conservation of natural resources.

So what in the world was this program…Devastation of financial and preference considerations of the many so that the minority can have a non-native “restoration” and the USFWS Phds have something to write about…and at least, in part, all on the taxpayer’s nickel…how in the heck else would you characterize this??? Further, even after the bogus restoration exceeded its goals , the USFWS guys kept going…why?…why not, the meat heads on the Hill kept sending $$$$$….

Very few people, comparatively speaking, EVER benefited from this program, when you count the elk, deer, moose, etc. lovers vs. the wolf lovers. Further, this was not a restoration of a native species. This was an ill-conceived pet project. The collateral damage goes way beyond the Feds lighting money on fire to do this (don’t care how much private money was raised…still burned Federal money) In short we spent Tax dollars which may result in the desimation of local and state hunting related tourism/business in the West; We are just KILLING livestock folks…part of our heritage; and we ignore the will of the majority of folks who’d rather see a Moose on occasion. At this point you’d hope the Fed would use the benefit of hindsight and say…geez, we honked that up for the states…but noooo, these USFWS guys still want to drive the bus…aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh (thats all of us beeing driven over a cliff).

Further, with the failure to anticipate the “Sport Hunting” nature of these non-native Wolves the USFWS likely considerably undershot the impacts on the ecosystems they inhabit (so even 30/300 is likely too many)…couple that with the USFWS’s unwillingness to live to/manage to their own limits as agreed and approved, they have started an eco-system death spiral… The states must force this issue NOW (go Wyoming) , and the Fed needs to cough up some money (and then get the hell out of the way) to get this turned around.

In short the USFWS is trying to put urgency on the states to take the hot potato …and they want the states to handle it the way the USFWS thinks is best…uhhh, anyone else think that is the definition of insanity???

How about you USFWS knuckleheads work on some “emergency delisting” provisions to ensure we get the damned Wolf population back down to where it belongs, according to your own limits…yea, I thought so…

This Wolf program is/was/always will be a dismal failure…it lacked a logical and fair implementation concept. The most glaring oversight was the fact that there is no rapid way of recovering reasonable numbers in an overpopulation scenario, which is where we are. The least the USFWS guys could have done in this program was to have made some provisions giving the states the right to protect their big game herds.

Man what happened to the good ole’ days when you USFWS guys primarily tinkled our money away doing this stuff within the confines of Yellowstone. I for one want to go back to those days…

Has more information on wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone, and wolf impacts on deer, elk, caribou and other ungulates.