If you want to post about dead wolves, do it here.

Please move discussion about recent wolf killings/controls, etc. here.

The big hearing today: Judge asked to rein in wolf killing in Northern Rockies

Judge asked to rein in wolf killing in Northern Rockies by Matthew Brown. Associated Press.

May 29 editorial added. 428 Wolves. The New York Times weighs in.

May 30. Wyoming’s wolf zones in question. By Cory Hatch and The AP, Jackson Hole News and Guide.

We predicted Wyoming’s “all wolves are vermin” zone would be a problem as well as the fact that the state legislature is required to indirectly assess the size of the vermin zone every year.

Today’s statement by Buffalo Field Campaign on the hazing

PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS VIOLATED BY LIVESTOCK AGENTS HAZING WILD BISON: Property Owners Welcome Bison, Not DOL, on Cattle-Free Horse Butte

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 29, 2008
Press Contacts:
Janae & Rob Galanis, 406-646-4848
Ed & Vicky Millspaugh, Hebgen Lake Estates, 406-646-9176, (cell) 406-580-0321
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0070

WEST YELLOWSTONE, MT – With horses, a helicopter, state and federal law enforcement, and U.S tax dollars to spend, Montana Department of Livestock agents have descended upon the cattle-free Horse Butte Peninsula, violating private property rights and upsetting human and wildlife residents in an attempt to chase wild American bison out of Montana and into Yellowstone National Park.

Bison to be hazed off of Horse Butte, despite private property

Montana Department of Livestock is expected to haze the bison off of Horse Butte today, despite the fact that most are on private property, whose owners welcome the bison.

The hard pressed bison have been gaining much needed nutrition from the lush grass and forbs after the winter of starvation and slaughter. The excuse from Montana DOL is that the Montana Stockgrowers Association has filed a lawsuit to get all the bison back inside Yellowstone Park lest brucellosis be spread to all the non-existent cattle in the area (they didn’t mention the later, as they like to pretend there are cattle present).

Of course we known what this is really about — to show us who is boss and that the average Americans’ private property rights are beneath contempt when confronted with the whims of the mighty livestock industry.

It is important to remember this offensive action the next time you hear these welfare ranchers whining about their property rights.

Obscure mountain ranges of southern Idaho, NW Utah, and Eastern Nevada

Updated June 20, 2008. This has been a very popular post. I first posted it about a year ago, and now I have enlarged and updated it. Ralph Maughan

Ah the Tetons, Wind Rivers, Sawtooths and White Clouds, Wallowas, Bitterroots, Beartooth, and Unitas!

I love all the mountains. I decided to do a major photo essay on the little-known and often little-appreciated ranges of the NW Great Basin. I have left out the Wasatch Range, Ruby Mountains, Schell Creek Range, and Snake Range because I think they are much more prominent the public’s eye.

Albion Range (Idaho)-

Copyright © Ralph Maughan. This is an unusual range consisting mostly of just two big mountains, Mt. Harrison and Cache Peak (highest mountain in Idaho south of the Snake River). The range is just east of Burley and Oakley, Idaho. The amazing Silent City of Rocks is at the range’s southern end. In the photo is Cache Peak, taken from near Almo, Idaho.

The Silent City of Rocks at the south end of the Albion Range in Southern Idaho, not far from the Utah and the Nevada borders. Copyright Ralph Maughan

Antelope Island (Utah)-

Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake is a classic Great Basin range surrounded by the Lake. The island is a Utah Stare Park, and bison, elk , deer, and antelope all have been introduced or reintroduced to the island. It also has coyotes and bobcats. The island is about 20 miles long, and the high point 6596 feet with the mean elevation of the lake 4200 feet. Copyright © Ralph Maughan

Idaho Mountain Express editorial: A license to kill

“A cloud hangs over this wolf ‘management’ plan: Fish and Game Commissioners tend to reflect the temperament of Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, who’s made no secret of his hostility toward the animal. Last year, he expressed the wish that the wolf population would be slaughtered down to 100 animals to protect elk stock for hunters.”

Read the rest below.

Our view: The license to kill. Idaho Mountain Express.

Note there is an on-line poll associated with this article.