Utah bill to delist wolves fails in Senate
The first of three U.S. Senate bills attempting to remove wolves from endangered species protection failed Tuesday.With time ticking down in the lame-duck Congress, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, along with Idaho cosponsors Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, also both Republicans, bypassed the committee process by requesting a unanimous consent agreement on Senate Bill 3919, which would have taken it to the floor and limited debate.The gamble was that a single "no" vote could block the bill, and one was provided by Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md.
Senate Bill 3919 basically said that no federal protections for wolves would be enforced. Hatch introduced the bill at the end of September and it was referred to the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works.
Speaking from the floor, both Risch and Crapo said the number of wolves in Idaho has exceeded the number established for recovery."Unfortunately, and despite their recovery, we have not been able to return management of wolves to the states, due to litigation and the inflexibility of the Endangered Species Act," Crapo said. "In the meantime, large increases in wolf populations are resulting in substantial harm to our big-game herds and domestic livestock."--minimum numbers achieved does not mean that is the maximum that should be allowed to roam free and expand further into the Rockies--Senator Hatch sees wildlife management as if it was livestock management of domestic pigs or goats....WRONG Sen.Hatch and all of your patrons!--blogger Rick
Cardin suggested he would support a compromise pushed by Montana lawmakers and the administration that would limit the scope of the bill to include only wolves in the Northern Rockies.But Crapo said that proposal was unacceptable because it would have forced Idaho to change the way it manages the animals.
The push to delist has been led mostly by Republicans, but not all Republicans support delisting. On Thursday, in anticipation of the rush to action, the Republicans for Environmental Protection issued a statement saying it was too soon to delist wolves or grizzly bears, which "face irrational animosity from officials in those (Rocky Mountain) states."---Sanity in the Republican Party on this issue remains alive--Teddy Roosevelt would be proud!!!!!...and so am II!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--blogger Rick
"Wolf and grizzly bear management should be based on scientifically sound ecological considerations, not dictated by political pressures. Wolves and grizzly bears play vital roles regulating ecosystems within their historic ranges," the release states.---YEA--blogger Rick
A number of wildlife groups were not surprised at the outcome, but they were relieved."This was one of the worst of the bills out there, so we're relieved it didn't pass," said Suzanne Stone of the Defenders of Wildlife.Garrick Dutcher of Ketchum-based Living with Wolves said no wolf-related emergency exists. Neither threats to elk populations nor the levels of livestock losses suffered by ranchers warrant legislative intervention, Dutcher said.This is borne out by state agency studies. In Idaho, wolves appear to affect elk population objectives in two of 29 management areas while 23 are at or above objectives. State wildlife officials maintain that the state's growing wolf population poses a heightened threat to those populations though.Elk populations in Montana have grown by 20 percent in the past five years. In Wyoming, the elk population is 50 percent above objective.
"Legislatively delisting wolves and allowing politics rather than science to determine the status of a species undermines the Endangered Species Act, setting a dangerous precedent for all imperiled species in the future," Dutcher said.
Two Senate bills proposing wolf delisting remain — bill 3825 sponsored by Risch and bill 3864 sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.--the fight has just begun--blogger Rick
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Conservationists seek to expand wolf range across U.S.
By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A wildlife conservation group on Tuesday put the government on notice that it would sue to restore wolves across the United States, far beyond a range now limited mostly to Alaska, the Rockies and the Great Lakes.The move by the Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson, Arizona, marks the latest twist in a long and heated battle over federal protections for wolf populations first established in 1978.That fight has centered recently in the Northern Rocky Mountains, where wolves have recovered so well that Montana, Idaho and Wyoming want the Obama administration to remove them from the Endangered Species List.Rather than remove protections, or focus on protecting them only in certain regions, the Center said it was long overdue for the federal government to develop a national plan."Wolves are an integral part of this country's natural history and need a national recovery plan now," said Noah Greenwald, the Center's endangered species program director.He said federal recovery efforts for wolves under the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have focused on just 5 percent of wolves' historic range in the continental United States.--Lets getr this done!--blogger Rick
With suitable habitat still available in mountains, forests and other back-country areas across the country, recovery plans should be put in place from coast to coast, including California, the Great Plains and New England, Greenwald said.The group filed a formal notice of intent to sue with the Interior Department on Tuesday seeking a nationwide recovery plan. Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff declined comment.
Once abundant across most of North America, wolves were hunted, trapped and poisoned to near extinction in much of the continental United States by the 1930s under a government-sponsored eradication program. Decades later, biologists recognized wolves had an essential role to play in ecosystems as a predator.While Endangered Species Act Protection was extended to wolves in the 1970s, recovery efforts have centered on the Rockies, the Great Lakes and the Southwest.Reestablishment of wolf packs has been especially controversial in the Rockies, where ranchers and hunters -- both powerful political forces in the West -- say wolves are preying on livestock and big game animals.
"We have gone to a lot of effort and cost to try to recover the wolf population and at this point, we've gotten zero in return," said Carl Ellsworth, past president of the Idaho Cattle Association.Federal government officials have been in talks with Idaho, Montana and Wyoming about plans for lifting protections for the estimated 1,700 wolves in those states.--do they want a medal for allowing a native trophic and keystone animal to come back to the tune of 1700 wolves when there were tens of thousands 200 years ago???--bloger Rick
A federal judge in August reversed a 2009 Interior Department decision that had removed wolves from the Endangered Species List in Idaho and Montana while leaving them listed in Wyoming. That ruling restored federal wolf safeguards for the three-state region as a whole.
Senate Bill 3919 basically said that no federal protections for wolves would be enforced. Hatch introduced the bill at the end of September and it was referred to the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works.
Speaking from the floor, both Risch and Crapo said the number of wolves in Idaho has exceeded the number established for recovery."Unfortunately, and despite their recovery, we have not been able to return management of wolves to the states, due to litigation and the inflexibility of the Endangered Species Act," Crapo said. "In the meantime, large increases in wolf populations are resulting in substantial harm to our big-game herds and domestic livestock."--minimum numbers achieved does not mean that is the maximum that should be allowed to roam free and expand further into the Rockies--Senator Hatch sees wildlife management as if it was livestock management of domestic pigs or goats....WRONG Sen.Hatch and all of your patrons!--blogger Rick
Cardin suggested he would support a compromise pushed by Montana lawmakers and the administration that would limit the scope of the bill to include only wolves in the Northern Rockies.But Crapo said that proposal was unacceptable because it would have forced Idaho to change the way it manages the animals.
The push to delist has been led mostly by Republicans, but not all Republicans support delisting. On Thursday, in anticipation of the rush to action, the Republicans for Environmental Protection issued a statement saying it was too soon to delist wolves or grizzly bears, which "face irrational animosity from officials in those (Rocky Mountain) states."---Sanity in the Republican Party on this issue remains alive--Teddy Roosevelt would be proud!!!!!...and so am II!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--blogger Rick
"Wolf and grizzly bear management should be based on scientifically sound ecological considerations, not dictated by political pressures. Wolves and grizzly bears play vital roles regulating ecosystems within their historic ranges," the release states.---YEA--blogger Rick
A number of wildlife groups were not surprised at the outcome, but they were relieved."This was one of the worst of the bills out there, so we're relieved it didn't pass," said Suzanne Stone of the Defenders of Wildlife.Garrick Dutcher of Ketchum-based Living with Wolves said no wolf-related emergency exists. Neither threats to elk populations nor the levels of livestock losses suffered by ranchers warrant legislative intervention, Dutcher said.This is borne out by state agency studies. In Idaho, wolves appear to affect elk population objectives in two of 29 management areas while 23 are at or above objectives. State wildlife officials maintain that the state's growing wolf population poses a heightened threat to those populations though.Elk populations in Montana have grown by 20 percent in the past five years. In Wyoming, the elk population is 50 percent above objective.
"Legislatively delisting wolves and allowing politics rather than science to determine the status of a species undermines the Endangered Species Act, setting a dangerous precedent for all imperiled species in the future," Dutcher said.
Two Senate bills proposing wolf delisting remain — bill 3825 sponsored by Risch and bill 3864 sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.--the fight has just begun--blogger Rick
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conservationists seek to expand wolf range across U.S.
By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A wildlife conservation group on Tuesday put the government on notice that it would sue to restore wolves across the United States, far beyond a range now limited mostly to Alaska, the Rockies and the Great Lakes.The move by the Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson, Arizona, marks the latest twist in a long and heated battle over federal protections for wolf populations first established in 1978.That fight has centered recently in the Northern Rocky Mountains, where wolves have recovered so well that Montana, Idaho and Wyoming want the Obama administration to remove them from the Endangered Species List.Rather than remove protections, or focus on protecting them only in certain regions, the Center said it was long overdue for the federal government to develop a national plan."Wolves are an integral part of this country's natural history and need a national recovery plan now," said Noah Greenwald, the Center's endangered species program director.He said federal recovery efforts for wolves under the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have focused on just 5 percent of wolves' historic range in the continental United States.--Lets getr this done!--blogger Rick
With suitable habitat still available in mountains, forests and other back-country areas across the country, recovery plans should be put in place from coast to coast, including California, the Great Plains and New England, Greenwald said.The group filed a formal notice of intent to sue with the Interior Department on Tuesday seeking a nationwide recovery plan. Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff declined comment.
Once abundant across most of North America, wolves were hunted, trapped and poisoned to near extinction in much of the continental United States by the 1930s under a government-sponsored eradication program. Decades later, biologists recognized wolves had an essential role to play in ecosystems as a predator.While Endangered Species Act Protection was extended to wolves in the 1970s, recovery efforts have centered on the Rockies, the Great Lakes and the Southwest.Reestablishment of wolf packs has been especially controversial in the Rockies, where ranchers and hunters -- both powerful political forces in the West -- say wolves are preying on livestock and big game animals.
"We have gone to a lot of effort and cost to try to recover the wolf population and at this point, we've gotten zero in return," said Carl Ellsworth, past president of the Idaho Cattle Association.Federal government officials have been in talks with Idaho, Montana and Wyoming about plans for lifting protections for the estimated 1,700 wolves in those states.--do they want a medal for allowing a native trophic and keystone animal to come back to the tune of 1700 wolves when there were tens of thousands 200 years ago???--bloger Rick
A federal judge in August reversed a 2009 Interior Department decision that had removed wolves from the Endangered Species List in Idaho and Montana while leaving them listed in Wyoming. That ruling restored federal wolf safeguards for the three-state region as a whole.
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