DELISTING THE GRAY WOLF – FACT OR FICTION
By Jim Foster
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) the gray wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountains is thriving and no longer requires the protection of the Endangered Species Act. The delisting has been done. Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett made the announcement.
Well, maybe!
The delisting rule in it’s legal and formalized form is supposed to be published in the Federal Register February 27 and will become law 30 days later.
As many of my regular readers know my faith in the truth of statements by the USFWS or their parent bureaucracy the department of the Interior is rather thin. If the USFWS says something I always take it for granted it's either not true or only a partial truth. More times than not I am correct in my position.
In their news release Ms. Scarlett was quoted to say, "The wolf population in the Northern Rockies has far exceeded its recovery goal and continues to expand its size and range. States, tribes, conservation groups, federal agencies and citizens of both regions can be proud of their roles in this remarkable conservation success story".
Well maybe, but first I question the numbers of wolves in the respective states. One thing is for sure we do have more wolves than we need, over 100 breeding pairs to many.
The cost of returning the wolf to the Rockies has been over a staggering $27 million dollars. This isn’t counting all the time and gunpowder the old timers used to remove them from the Rockies in the first place.
Now here is the first catch, federal law prevents congress from directly giving appropriated money to the states. So, all federal funding would be required to be funded through a federal agency or program. Take a guess at which agency that might be?
In fact what has really happened is this, the introduced wolf has killed domestic animals and livestock, spread into unplanned areas, killed wildlife, and harassed the rest into changing preferred ranges and causing a low birth rate in native deer, elk, and other wild species.
However the USFWS continues to pour money down the wolf rat hole. It has been forecast that they, the USFWS, will spend over $3.3 million dollars just to keep an eye / manage the present population. Where this money is coming from nobody seems to know. Will it fall on the states where forced wolf populations live? It could come form the millions of dollars the USFWS has allotted to “reestablish” the ivory-billed woodpecker. That is IF they ever find one much less a breeding pair. If it weren’t so sad it would be funny.
If the states will be required to cough up the money it will be like the guy that helped vote a town dry then moved. The USFWS can come up with the funds to place the wolf then after creating a major problem the dump it on the states.
So that’s that, the wolf is delisted right?
Wrong!
What will happen now is the “Greens” will begin a series of lawsuits that will slow the process and allow the wolf to expand further and do more and more damage. The states will still not be allowed to “manage” the wolf in any fashion. We know how fast out courts are and that’s what the “wolf people” want.
I was hoping to buy the first wolf management tag and then devote as much time as required to use it. I guess we will just have to wait and see.
It is still my contention the badly written and mostly stupid endangered species act is the front line tool of the anti-hunter.
***As a Special Note for Montana Hunters.
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) Commission to set dates for the 2008 wolf hunting season. The wolf season will be October 26 through December 31. To quote a Montana friend, “It’s about damn time.”
The 2009 season will be the same with an opening date of October 29. Montana seasons are considered every two years as part of the MFWP commission's biannual setting of seasons.
If you have comments or news for Jim Foster please e-mail him at: jim@jimfosteroutdoors.com
