King’s Outdoor World Blog

Wolves are Back on Endangered List

July 22nd, 2008 David King - King's Outdoor World

What a turn around of events. Wolves are delisted, wolf hunts are in the works, and now wolves have been temporarily put back on the endangered species list. How can this be so? About 12 Environmentalist Groups (Earthjustice, Humane Society, Defenders of Wildlife, etc.) is how it can be so. I told you about their pending lawsuit they filed April 28, 2008. Exactly 60 days after the delisting was signed. They know they law very well, have a ton of money and do just what they need to do to stall this thing out.

Judge Donald Molloy issued on Friday, July 18, 2008 an injunction to suspend the removal of wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains from the federal Endangered Species List. Wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains were removed from the Endangered Species List in March 2008. A number of environmental groups are challenging the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s delisting decision. Friday’s injunction effectively returns management authority for wolves in the region to the federal government while these legal challenges are heard.

What about Wyoming’s open hunts?

As a result of Friday’s injunction, wolves can no longer be taken anywhere in Wyoming except in cases where wolves are in the act of attacking livestock. Ranchers who are experiencing livestock depredation problems anywhere in the state should contact their local Wyoming Game and Fish office.

What about Idaho’s upcoming hunts?

There will be no wolf hunting season in Idaho this year. Idaho Fish and Game will not issue any wolf hunting tags.
Wolves have reverted to management under a section of the Endangered Species Act known as the 10(j) rule, which was revised in January.
Link: View the text of the revised 10(j) rule - (PDF)

So what happened?
The Environmentalists convinced the judge that the State agencies didn’t follow all of the rules to delist the wolves. Even though the states have established laws that will maintain a stable population and breeding pairs, regardless of the hunts, the Environmentalists argue that the states won’t do this. The federal biologist who led the wolf restoration program, Ed Bangs, defended the decision to delist wolves as “a very biologically sound package.”

“The kind of hunting proposed by the states wouldn’t threaten the wolf population,” Bangs said Friday. “We felt the science was rock solid and that the delisting was warranted.”

Here is the conclusion from the judges ruling:

For these reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction (dkt #2) is GRANTED. Endangered Species Act protections are hereby reinstated for the northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf pending final resolution of this matter on the merits.
Dated this 18 day of July, 2008, 16:04 p.m. th

So what were the reasons. I have provided a link to the judges ruling and you can read the whole thing here:
Link: Judges Ruling on wolf injunction (PDF)

In a nutshell, the main argument that the Environmental groups used was the fact that the wolves have not had a chance to interbreed. What that means is the wolves from Wyoming, Idaho and Montana need to interbreed to provide a stable population 60 years down the road.

Here is an excerpt from the the ruling:

Plaintiffs claim the Fish & Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by delisting the wolf while knowing there was a lack of genetic exchange between populations in the three northern Rocky Mountain core recovery areas. The legal deficiency claimed is that in doing so the Service ignored its own recovery criteria and ignored the best science available.

Here is an excerpt from the introduction of the ruling:

Introduction
This case, like a cloud larger than a man’s hand, will hang over the northwest states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming until there has been a final determination of the complex issues presented. Those issues must be answered in accordance with the intent of Congress as stated in the Endangered Species Act and its implementing regulations. Here, Plaintiffs challenge the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s decision to designate and delist a northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf distinct population segment under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. § 1536. In
seeking to alter the course of that decision, Plaintiffs move for a preliminary injunction. They ask the Court to reinstate ESA protections for the wolf, at least while this lawsuit is pending. In support of their motion, Plaintiffs argue (1) even though the environmental impact statement on wolf reintroduction specifically conditions the delisting decision on a Finding of Subpopulation Genetic Exchange, the Fish & Wildlife Service delisted the wolf when there is no plausible showing of that genetic exchange between the Greater Yellowstone core recovery area and the northwestern Montana and central Idaho core recovery areas; (2) the Service approved Wyoming’s 2007 wolf management plan even though the Wyoming plan still contains provisions that the Service earlier deemed inadequate; and (3) the Fish & Wildlife Service did not consider the several states’ liberal defense of property laws in concluding the states’ wolf management plans were adequate. The argument concludes with the claim that a preliminary injunction is necessary because wolves are not likely to survive the increased incidents of human-caused
mortality that will occur under state management.

So what happens next?

The judge is going to determine if keeping the wolves on the Endangered Species List will continue or not. Unfortunately I think the anti-groups are going to keep pumping money into this ruling and tie it up in the courts as long as they can. What’s even more unfortunate is that this is not about proper animal management and conservation. This about pushing an agenda - a way of thinking - that is anti-human, anti-hunting and that animals (specifically predators) should rule the earth. This is the case of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Could be a shaky future and the excitement of finally getting some control and management of the wolf here in the West is at a standstill.

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