Wildlife and People

Animal Rights Activists Lose Lynx Lawsuit in Maine

by George Smith, DownEast.com, 10/26/2010 [here]

Animal rights activists have lost their latest battle to stop hunting and trapping in Maine. On October 20 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston affirmed a 2009 decision by Judge John Woodcock, Jr., dismissing the animal rights groups’ Canada lynx lawsuit.

This decision provides a very important national precedent. It’s been a long trail getting to this point, but here’s a quick summary:

On November 10, 2009, Judge Woodcock of the Federal District Court in Bangor denied a request from the Animal Welfare Institute of Idaho and the Wildlife Institute of Maine for a permanent injunction against the state of Maine to stop hunting and trapping in order to protect Canada lynx.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated the lynx as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act on March 24, 2000. But it has been illegal to hunt or trap lynx in Maine since 1967.

The most important thing for you to know is this: Maine probably has more lynx today than ever, an estimated total exceeding 1,000 animals. As far as Maine officials are concerned, Canada lynx are neither threatened nor endangered. They are doing well here. …

Twice in the last three years, animal rights groups have used the ESA’s lynx listing to seek declaratory relief and injunctions in federal court against Maine laws and regulations.

The first lawsuit, Animal Protection Institute v. Martin, resulted in an October 4, 2007, Consent Decree in which IF&W made a commitment to new regulations restricting the type, size, and placement of traps in Maine. IF&W paid $140,000 in attorney’s fees to API as part of that settlement.

Much to the state’s surprise, a similarly-named animal rights group, The Animal Welfare Institute, along with the Wildlife Alliance of Maine — led by people who were a party to the earlier consent decree — filed another lawsuit on August 11, 2008, seeking the same injunctive relief and charging that IF&W was violating the ESA by allowing trapping practices that result in the capture of some lynx. …

While establishing an important precedent, this decision is unlikely to deter the constant filing of lawsuits under the Endangered Species Act. This is simply another chapter — albeit an important one — in this particular war, while we wait for Congress to amend the Act and limit these abuses of the legal system. … [more]

The Secret World Inside the Animal Rights Agenda — Part One

by Lowell E. Baier, President, Boone and Crockett Club, Fall 2010 issue of Fair Chase Magazine [here]

Queen, country and fox hunting are dear to England’s landed gentry, all part of the rarefied world of inherited privilege and tradition. However, when the British Labor Party banned fox hunting in England in 2004, the victory went not to the liberal politicians, but rather to the secretive, clandestine, Machiavellian worldwide animal rights and liberation movement begun in the early 1960s by a group of United Kingdom Oxford University academics known as the “Oxford Group.” Animal rightists and liberationists are of a very different orientation than the anti-hunting movement, which is a minor component of their agenda.

Rightists are a distilled, radical extension far beyond anti-hunters, driven by intellectuals, academics and the scholastic legal community in a global political movement. Animal rights advocates seek to end the rigid moral and legal distinctions drawn between humans and animals, end the status of animals as property or prey, and end their use in research, food, clothing, hunting and fishing, and the entertainment industries. Their aim is to remove an animal’s current status as “property,” and to recognize and grant animals “personhood”; that is, to award them legal rights and standing on the same terms humans enjoy fundamental rights to protect their basic interests. The “bible” of the modern animal rights movement, Animal Liberation, was authored in 1975 by Professor Peter Singer from Princeton University.

The philosophical and moral foundations for the animal rights position are that animals have the ability to suffer and feel pain, and that capacity is the vital characteristic that gives every creature with a will to live the right to equal consideration which must be recognized in any moral community and philosophy of natural law. Contrarians argue that animals lack rationality to distinguish between right and wrong; they lack language and are not able to enter into a social contract, make moral choices, assume moral obligations, nor have a moral identity; and hence, cannot be regarded as a possessor of rights. Only humans have duties, therefore only humans have rights, and rights must be accompanied by duties. …

Full text [here]

Stop the Wolf Madness

by Jeff Sayre

Note: The following letter is in response to an Oct. 24 opinion piece in the Lewiston Tribune by Marty Trillhaase [here].

Marty, Marty, Marty. Your opinion on elk and what the State of Idaho should do with them is wrong. The elk population in Idaho, which was the premiere place in the Pacific Northwest to hunt elk the past 75 year’s has gone from 300,000 to below 100,000. See any problems there, Marty? No, why would you. The Green Weenies say we have too many elk already and this is a natural balancing event to equal what the habitat can handle, right? The major problem the past 15 years with the elk population decline and some would call a population plummet is the Canadian wolves, not habitat.

Look up in your Webster’s dictionary on line or in the old book form, these two phrases. Experimental and non-essential. Let me help you here Marty. Non-essential means we really don’t need them, not needed, not essential. Experimental means an experiment done with FACTS/Science, not presupposed conclusions, just factual evidence. When an experiment goes bad you, the scientist or biologist re-evaluate the data and decide to continue the experiment or change the parameters or stop it all together. This social feel good experiment had gone terribly wrong. Our Idaho elk herds will never ever recover to the numbers they were when I moved here in the fall of 1987 and started hunting in the fall of 1988. They are all but gone in the Red River Valley. Gone in the Lolo. Gone in the Gospel Hump. Gone in the Frank Church. Behind Pierce the major herds are all but decimated by this invasive wolf from Canada. These are not the indigenous wolves that Idaho had, this killing machine killed those wolves by 1990. USFWS knew there were indigenous Idaho wolves here when they released these wolves in Idaho. Is USFSW guilty of a “take” for eliminating an existing distinct population of Idaho wolves? Should some zones have been closed to hunting this past fall or in the future? No elk, no need for a hunt.

Ask the guides and avid hunters what they see in all the old places they used to hunt and take elk every year. Most have quit the business of guiding, they can’t make a living anymore. No elk. Some locals have hunted in places for 28 years with success. Nothing but wolves this year. Game trails with elk and deer tracks are not wolf super highways. The Earthquake Basin Pack on the Southfork of the Clearwater River has over 25 wolves in the pack when last counted. 25! Is that normal, Marty? How far will this horrible governmental test go before someone sees the red light and stops the bus? When Marty? Too late already. You seem to have all the answers, what is your solution? Mine is shoot and release. They need to be culled. The ecosystem can’t handle the damage done already. If we have a hard winter what will be left of our once strong and populous ungulate herds? Bones. The Green Weenies are most to blame here because they know best that we need. 2,000 wolves. Heck if you do the math and count the numbers we are pretty darn close now. 5,000 is their ultimate goal. What is not known are the number of wolves not counted. Can you or any sane person imagine that number and what wildlife will be left in Idaho? It will be all be in the Boise Zoo!

Idaho needs to start and Elk Recovery Plan now and that includes the elimination of 90% of the present population of Idaho wolves who are all from the same or original packs or Canada wolves. They are genetically the same…….all 1,500 of them. The same in Alberta, same in Saskatchewan, same in B.C. They need to be eliminated for the same reasons our grandfathers and fathers eliminated them. Wild packs of hungry wolves destroy everything man tries make a living on his ranch with, cattle, horses, sheep, pigs and they reek havoc on local elk, moose, deer, cougars, bear, coyotes etc. Too many pressuring too few will lead to total destruction and a collapse of the once great Idaho ungulates and already has. We are a long way from the original 62 released and the 30 breeding pairs and 150 total. Way past! Help is needed now, not another law suit or decision made by a judge who is far removed from the reality on the ground. The facts are clear. This is a disaster only getting worse everyday they are allowed to bred and grow. Idaho never ever had this number of wolves, ever in recorded history, neither did Montana or Wyoming. Stop the madness. Listen and look at reality already in progress.

USFWS Responds to ID Gov Otter

On Oct. 18th Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter terminated Idaho’s “Designated Agent” status with the US Fish and Wildlife Service regarding wolves [here].

Yesterday the USFWS responded, announcing that they would enforce federal wolf regulations, take over investigation of all wolf-on-livestock depredation incidents, and “take appropriate action”.

In the news release the USFWS also acknowledges that the IDFG has been in charge of much more than that:

The Governor’s order ended efforts by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to act as the Service’s designated agent for wolf management. In that capacity, the state was responsible for monitoring wolf populations, conducting investigations into illegal killings, responding to illegal takings, and implementing a livestock depredation response program.

IDFG also designated a wolf hunt last year. They have at least a nominal concern for elk, deer and other wildlife impacted by wolves, which the USFWS does not.

The USFWS also announced that they opened “a 24-hour, toll-free line to report “wolf mortality”. So if it’s 3AM and you want to turn in your neighbor for “shooting a wolf”, there’s some poor sap of a federal employee who has to answer the phone. It’s pure Big Brotherism. If it’s 3AM and wolves are killing your livestock, you call a different number, which is not toll-free and not manned 24/7. Please leave a message.

The message in the news release is clear: back at you, Otter. There is a high-level shoving match going on. Or a dog fight. Pick your own metaphor.

The entire USFWS news release follows:

more »

Otter Tells Salazar: Take Your Wolves, Please

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter today terminated Idaho’s “Designated Agent” status with the US Fish and Wildlife Service regarding wolves, making good on his August 30th boycott ultimatum to Interior Sec. Ken Salazar [here].

The full text of Otter’s letter is [here]. His press release [here] reads:

C.L. “BUTCH” OTTER
GOVERNOR

NEWS RELEASE
October 18, 2010

GOVERNOR OTTER ENDS IDAHO’S “DESIGNATED AGENT” STATUS IN WOLF MANAGEMENT

(BOISE) – Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter notified Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today that Idaho no longer will act as the federal government’s “designated agent,” managing wolves imposed on the state under the Endangered Species Act.

Instead, the Governor directed the Idaho Fish and Game Commission to immediately refocus its efforts on protecting Idaho’s deer, elk and moose, and said the Idaho Department of Fish and Game will be submitting applications to the Interior Department for additional flexibility in addressing wolf depredation issues “so we can exercise our sovereign right to protect our wildlife.”

In his letter, the Governor reiterated that the State of Idaho has consistently proven itself to be a responsible steward of all wildlife – “including your wolves.”

“We also showed that we could successfully manage a hunting season for wolves as we do for other species,” he said. “The State managed wolves as part of the ecosystem, in concert with other species and needs, which was ironically decried by environmentalists who seemingly want wolves to benefit at the expense of other wild and domestic species.”

“I am still committed to finding a path forward for delisting. My goal remains restoring State management under our approved plan as quickly as possible, if for no other reason than to fulfill the promise of our State law that all wildlife within our borders will be managed by the State. To that end, I am encouraged by the efforts of representatives from the three legislatures (Idaho, Montana and Wyoming) to see if there is a path forward for delisting and state management,” Governor Otter wrote to Salazar. “Although we could not agree during the course of our negotiations, I share your commitment to delist the species and restore state management as quickly as possible. It is truly frustrating that we cannot accomplish that shared goal today.”

From the Associated Press:

Idaho won’t manage wolves under ESA

By JOHN MILLER, AP, October 18, 2010 [here]

BOISE, Idaho — After talks with the federal government collapsed, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter ordered Idaho wildlife managers Monday to relinquish their duty to arrest poachers or to even investigate when wolves are killed illegally.

Otter rejected the wolf management Idaho has conducted for years as the federal government’s “designated agent” after a U.S. District Court judge in Montana returned wolves to Endangered Species Act protections earlier this year.

This means Idaho Department of Fish and Game managers will no longer perform statewide monitoring for wolves, conduct investigations into illegal killings, provide law enforcement when wolves are poached or participate in a program that responds to livestock depredations.

In an angry letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the Republican governor said withdrawing from wolf management will keep Idaho hunters and their money from subsidizing the federal program. Otter accused the federal government of foisting wolves upon Idaho - he calls them “your wolves” - and promised to quickly submit plans asking for special permission to kill dozens of wolves to protect big game herds.

“History will show that this program was a tragic example of oppressive, ham-handed ‘conservation’ at its worst,” Otter wrote. “Idahoans have suffered this intolerable situation for too long, but starting today at least the state no longer will be complicit.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency that oversees endangered species, didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment on how it will respond to Idaho’s move. … [more]

RM Grey Wolves Genetically Connected

In July, 2008, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy enjoined the delisting of grey wolves in the Northern Rockies (thus placing them back on the Endangered Species list) [here, more].

Molloy based his ruling on a faulty understanding of genetics in wolf populations. A quote (with emphasis added):

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. …

As recently as 2002, the Service determined genetic exchange between wolves in the Greater Yellowstone, northwestern Montana, and central Idaho core recovery areas was necessary to maintain a viable northern Rocky Mountain wolf population in the face of environmental variability and stochastic events. The Fish & Wildlife Service nevertheless delisted the wolf without any evidence of genetic exchange between wolves in the Greater Yellowstone core recovery area and the other two core recovery areas.

Now wolf experts from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Yellowstone National Park, the Nez Perce Tribe, and UCLA have published a study showing that Rocky Mountain wolves are fully genetically connected — due to their (the wolves) propensity, as members of the Dog Family, for having multiple relations with whatever all the time (or words to that effect). The study is behind a pay wall [here]:

VONHOLDT, B. M., STAHLER, D. R., BANGS, E. E., SMITH, D. W., JIMENEZ, M. D., MACK, C. M., NIEMEYER, C. C., POLLINGER, J. P. and WAYNE, R. K. (2010), A novel assessment of population structure and gene flow in grey wolf populations of the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States. Molecular Ecology, 19: 4412–4427. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04769.x

Abstract The successful re-introduction of grey wolves to the western United States is an impressive accomplishment for conservation science. However, the degree to which subpopulations are genetically structured and connected, along with the preservation of genetic variation, is an important concern for the continued viability of the metapopulation. We analysed DNA samples from 555 Northern Rocky Mountain wolves from the three recovery areas (Greater Yellowstone Area, Montana, and Idaho), including all 66 re-introduced founders, for variation in 26 microsatellite loci over the initial 10-year recovery period (1995–2004). The population maintained high levels of variation (HO = 0.64–0.72; allelic diversity k = 7.0–10.3) with low levels of inbreeding (FIS < 0.03) and throughout this period, the population expanded rapidly (n1995 = 101; n2004 = 846). Individual-based Bayesian analyses revealed significant population genetic structure and identified three subpopulations coinciding with designated recovery areas. Population assignment and migrant detection were difficult because of the presence of related founders among different recovery areas and required a novel approach to determine genetically effective migration and admixture. However, by combining assignment tests, private alleles, sibship reconstruction, and field observations, we detected genetically effective dispersal among the three recovery areas. Successful conservation of Northern Rocky Mountain wolves will rely on management decisions that promote natural dispersal dynamics and minimize anthropogenic factors that reduce genetic connectivity.

more »

Gray Wolf Impact Hearings

From: Denny Rehberg, Montana’s Congressman

Announcing Gray Wolf Impact Hearings

To be held in Dillon, Hamilton, Kalispell

October 5-6

News Release [here]:

After hearing from thousands of you over the past several weeks at listening sessions and through the internet, I recognize that the frustration is well past the boiling point and federal legislation is likely necessary. It’s time to start working toward a solution that works for Montanans, not just powerful out-of-state interest groups.

Be sure to RSVP on the right, and invite your friends. If you can’t attend, you can still provide comments, concerns and ideas on my website or through Facebook and Twitter. - Rep. Denny Rehberg

October 5: Dillon
9:00 AM-11:00 AM
University of Montana Western, Lewis and Clark Room at Matthews Hall

Panel:

Denny Rehberg, Montana’s Congressman, Rancher (Billings)
Jake Cummins, Jr., Executive Vice President, Montana Farm Bureau (Bozeman)
Meg Smith, Rancher, Member, Southwest Stockgrowers Association (Big Hole)
Rick Sandru, President, Ruby Valley Stockgrowers (Twin Bridges)
Russ Kipp, President, Montana Outfitters and Guides Association (Polaris)
Debbie Barrett, State Senator (Dillon)
Dave Schultz, Madison County Commissioner (Ennis)
Mike Leahy, Rocky Mountain Regional Director, Defenders of Wildlife (Bozeman)
John Steuber, Director, USDA Wildlife Services (Billings)
Harold Peterson, Owner, Peterson Brothers Cattle Company (Big Hole)
John Helle, President, Montana Woolgrowers Association, Sheep Rancher (Dillon)
Steve Jennings, President, Beaverhead Outdoor Association (Dillon)
Emcee: Jeff Welborn, State Representative (Dillon)

*****

October 5: Hamilton
3:00 PM-5:00 PM
Hamilton Performing Arts Center

Panel:

Denny Rehberg, Montana’s Congressman, Rancher (Billings)
Montana Farmers Union (Great Falls) *Invited, but unconfirmed
Ron Stoker, State Representative (Hamilton)
Sierra Club (Missoula) *Invited, but unconfirmed
Jack Pfau, Cattle rancher (Stevensville)
J.R. Iman, Rancher, Ravalli County Commissioner (Bitterroot)
Scott Boulanger, Former Owner, Circle K Outfitters (Darby)
Bill Merrill, President, Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (Missoula)
Ryan Benson, National Director, Big Game Forever (Utah)
Tony Jones, President, Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association (Hamilton)
Craig Jourdonnais, Wildlife Biologist, Montana FW&P (Bitterroot) *Invited, but unconfirmed
George Edwards, Livestock Loss Mitigation Coordinator, MT Dept of Livestock (Helena)
Emcee: Rusty Wickman, Former Missoula Chief of Police, Member, Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (Missoula)

*****

October 6: Kalispell
10:00 AM-12:00 PM
Flathead Valley Community College, Arts and Technology Large Meeting Room

Panel:

Denny Rehberg, Montana’s Congressman, Rancher (Billings)
Gary Wardell, Board Member, Five Valleys Chapter Safari Club International (Kalispell)
Wayne Slaght, Rancher, Chair, Endangered Species Committee, Montana Stockgrowers Association (Ovando)
Chuck Hunt, President, Flathead Wildlife Incorporated (Kalispell)
Mike Meuli, Cattle Rancher (Kalispell)
Gerald Bennett, State Representative (Libby)
Edwin (Ed) Jonas, Cattle Rancher (Rollins)
Clarice Ryan, Board Member, Montanans for Multiple Use (Flathead)
Kirk Murphy, Director of Operations, Division III, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (Polson)
Jason Tounsley, President, Montana Bow Hunters Association (Billings)
Toby Bridger, President, Lobo Watch (Missoula)
Joe Maurier, Director, Montana FW&P (Helena) *Invited, but unconfirmed
Emcee: Bruce Tutvedt, State Senator (Kalispell)

ODFW Adopts New Wolf Plan

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Commission has adopted an Updated 2010 Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan [here]. The 2010 Plan is an update of the 2005 Plan.

Once again, ranchers and homeowners suffering depredations from wolves are forbidden to take any action that would cause harm to the wolf. Should it ever occur that wolves are federally delisted, then wolves involved in chronic depredation may be killed by ODFW or Wildlife Services personnel. As long as wolves remain listed, private citizens have no recourse except shoot, shovel, and shut up.

ODFW claims to have little or no funds to “manage” wolves, which could result in a net benefit to the citizenry if the Department is shut down and all ODFW personnel are fired.