Wildlife and People

Budget Wolf Rider a Farce

The budget wolf rider which is getting ample hysteria in the always-hysterical MSM (here, for instance) is actually a farce.

The rider [here] was proposed by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). It has been attached to the (eighth) emergency budget agreement necessary to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year (because the Democrat-majority Congress last year failed to pass a budget for 2011). The emergency spending bill is expected to be approved this week.

The rider is a fake, a fraud, and will not accomplish what the sponsors claim. The rider allegedly reinstates the 2009 USFWS partial delisting of wolves (only in Idaho and Montana) that was thrown out by Judge Donald Molloy [here].

The USFWS’ 2009 partial delisting was fraught with multiple Catch-22’s. It set new, higher lower limits for the wolf population. It divided wolf populations along state lines. It forced impossible restrictions on all states. It was based on faulty science. Judge Molloy was right to throw it out.

The budget wolf rider not only reinstates a defective delisting, it is based on language that forbids the Judiciary from review of the new law. That is unconstitutional. The Legislative and Executive Branches do not tell the Judicial Branch what laws they may or may not review. Not under our Constitution. Congress has tried that trick before, and the judges laugh at them for it. It’s a challenge to the judges, one they jump at. It will not take “unparalleled legal maneuvering” to get a judge, any Federal judge, to throw it out.

The enviro-litigious groups are not scared; they are enthused about it. Don’t be fooled by their PR rhetoric. They are not known for their honesty. They create false crises to attract donations. The budget wolf rider is a false crisis.

Already the USFWS is ratcheting up the minimum wolf numbers. They are about to be given carte blanche to do so. They are now shielded from Congress, although not from Federal judges. Let’s not forget that USFWS caused the wolf crisis in the first place.

Yesterday the USFWS declared Great Lake wolves to be a different species. The more species there are, the fewer individuals in each, and therefore they are all more “endangered” than they were day before yesterday. Many of us tried to warn against exactly that outcome. It’s not scientific. There is only one species of wolf. But the USFWS doesn’t care about valid science. They care about money, and all their money comes via one of the worst laws ever enacted in this country, the ESA.

Congress had another bill in the hopper, HR509 [here]. It would have simply declared all wolves to be not endangered. It was simple and direct. It had equivalency to the ESA. It did not need a special “no review” clause. In effect, it modified the ESA, and since Congress created the ESA in the first place, that modification was eminently constitutional. HR509 was supported by a majority of state delegations. The budget wolf rider effectively kills HR509.

Note that the new budget wolf rider does not modify the ESA. It modifies a court ruling, and attempts (ineffectually) to modify the U.S. Constitution by limiting the powers of the Judiciary. Note that Sen. Tester is very clear on that point [here]:

“We didn’t amend the Endangered Species Act,” Tester said in an interview with E&E Daily.

Congress could (and should) amend or rescind the ESA. The ESA is the source of a host of problems. It is a weapon used to wage war on the West. It does not “save species”. It does, however, cause untold suffering, hardships, and violations of human rights.

I understand that many feel the budget wolf rider is a “victory” for rational wildlife management. I disagree. It is a setback.

A “wolf hunt” will not control the wolf population. They breed faster than sport hunters can reduce them. The wolf population will continue to grow, and prey populations will continue to shrink.

Wolf populations need to be controlled with effective predator control methods. That means comprehensive hunts, trapping, and probably poisoning as well. If comprehensive methods are not employed, wolf numbers will continue to grow. The real solution is to rescind or modify the ESA so that species which are not actually endangered of going extinct do not get special protections.

Tester, Baucus, and Simpson jury-rigged the law. Their budget wolf rider is a farce. It is a slap in the face to folks who demand responsible wildlife management. I hope the Tea Party takes notice. We do not want any more backstabbing from liberals and RINO’s. Congress has failed on this issue. We need to throw the frauds and failures out next election.