I want to make a plea for people of conscience to support a federal lawsuit by 12 prominent conservation groups to challenge the federal governments delisting of gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act. These groups need our financial support to succeed at this lawsuit and prevent the slaughter of hundreds of wolves this year alone. See the end of this diary for links you can follow to make contributions that will help stop this slaughter.
Many of you may know already, but the Bush administration delisted the gray wolf from the endangered species status that had facilitated it's partial recovery from catastrophic population decline.
This decision leaves the fate of the wolves in the northern Rockies in the hands of myopic and irresponsible state agencies in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. These state agencies are all but owned by wealthy incredibly influential hunting and ranching lobbies who could not care less about the fate of wolves, except to see to it that they are persecuted right back into near extinction. This year alone the Idaho Fish and Game agency has agreed to allow 428 wolves to be killed, most by hunting.
The Bush administration's delisting took effect on March 28th, 2008. Earth justice reports the following effect this has already had
Hunters in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana have already killed at least 39 gray wolves since March 28th, when the Bush administration removed the animal from the endangered species list. Our only chance to stop the slaughter of this majestic species is in court.
Now, the real effect of this crap is finally coming into perspective. The Idaho Fish and Game agency has just set a hunting season policy, with the stated goal of cutting the population of wolves in Idaho in half, from an estimate of about 1000 to 518
From the Fort Mill Times
BOISE, Idaho — A new wolf hunting season adopted by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission Thursday sets a goal of 518 predators - about half current numbers.
Or, more bluntly from the Idaho Mountain Express
As many as 428 wild gray wolves will be allowed to die in Idaho this year under a plan approved by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission in Jerome on Thursday
And finally from the Idaho State Fish and Game agency:
f&g commission adopts wolf hunting rules
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission Thursday, May 22, adopted the first regulated hunting season on gray wolves in the state's history
The commission, during its May meeting, set a wolf population goal of 518 wolves, and adopted hunting seasons, limits and rules for the 2008 hunting season.
The season would be open from September 15 in the backcountry and from October 1 in all remaining areas and run through December 31. The commission would review results in November to consider extending the season if limits are not being met.
A hunter can kill one wolf with a valid 2008 hunting license and wolf tag.
"I think we made history today," Fish and Game Director Cal Groen said. "We must manage this species; they are well beyond recovered."
The wolf hunt rules are based on the Idaho Wolf Population Management Plan, approved by commissioners in an early March meeting. The gray wolf in the Northern Rocky Mountains was removed from the endangered species list in late March. The plan calls for managing wolves at a population level of between 2005-2007 levels (518-732) wolves for the first five years following delisting.
So. There it is. Left to their own devices these backwards assed cowboys are going to shoot and kill hundreds of wolves within months of them being taken off the endangered species list. And it will cost one of these sick fucks about $50 bucks for the thrill of shooting a wolf in the head.
There is only one thing that can be done. There is a federal lawsuit by a number of conservation groups to challenge the delisting and hopefully take the fate of these amazing animals back out of the hands of folks who would rather have every last one of them dead. And they need our support and money to succeed.
Here is a press release Dated April 28th from Defenders of Wildlife, one of the groups that is participating in the lawsuit:
MISSOULA, MT— Twelve conservation groups are fighting for the survival of wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. The groups today filed a federal court lawsuit challenging the federal government’s decision to remove the northern Rockies gray wolf population from the list of endangered species. Wolves should not have been delisted, the groups argue, because they remain threatened by biased, inadequate state management plans, as well as by the lack of connections between largely isolated state wolf populations.
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s premature decision to strip the protections of the Endangered Species Act from the northern Rocky Mountains’ wolves promises to undo the hard-earned progress toward wolf recovery of recent years. State laws that guide wolf management in the wake of delisting betray the states’ continued hostility toward the presence of wolves in the region. While ensuring that wolves can and will be killed in defense of property or recreation, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana have refused to make enforceable commitments to maintaining viable wolf populations within their borders. The states have failed to keep track of recent wolf killings and also neglected to secure funding for essential monitoring and conservation efforts.
Actions by the states of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, and by individuals, since wolves were delisted demonstrate the need to resume federal safeguards for wolves until state plans are in place that ensure a sustainable wolf population in the region. For example, on the very day delisting took effect — March 28, 2008 — Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed into law a new Idaho law allowing Idaho citizens to kill wolves without a permit whenever wolves are annoying, disturbing, or "worrying" livestock or domestic animals. Since delisting, Wyoming has implemented its "kill on sight" predator law in nearly 90 percent of the state. Not surprisingly, these hostile state laws have resulted in a wave of new wolf killings.
and from the same press release:
Earthjustice filed the lawsuit on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, The Humane Society of the United States, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Friends of the Clearwater, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands Project, Western Watersheds Project, and Wildlands Project.
Note the links listed below will take you to many of the groups fund raising pages. There is only one thing that each of us can do right now to effectively stop this senseless killing of these beautiful, majestic, and dangerously threatened animals; Give money to the organizations trying to protect them. Their fate rests entirely in this federal lawsuit. Without our help and donations, these states are going to kill these animals with abandon.
Please donate to those leading the lawsuit:
Earthjustice
On behalf of:
Defenders of Wildlife
Natural Resources Defense Council