Although I earlier posted a lot of material about the USFWS proposed changes to the 10j rule on the “non-essential, experimental” population of wolves in Idaho, Wyoming, and much of Montana, a month ago, I’ve been asked to post again now that the due date approaches — August 6.
Here is the proposed new 10j rule as it was published in the Federal Register on July 6.
What do these changes mean? Fact sheet from Defenders.
What is the worst part? It is the new allowance for killing of wolves by the government for “herd management” purposes. The proposed new rule defines “herd management” in such a way that a state could kill wolves that affect ungulate herds in any manner they choose to find objectionable. It is no longer just a reduction in the herd’s size that may merit state ordered killing, it might just be that wolves have made elk more wary and so harder for the least capable hunters to find. In other words, some of the beneficial reasons why wolves were restored under 10j rule, may now be the basis for their termination — wolves just being wolves and making the elk, deer, and moose more wild, could result in an order from them to be gunned down.
Here’s what it says in the Federal Register about wolves having an unacceptable impact on “herd management goals.”
Unacceptable impact—State or tribally determined impact to a wild ungulate population or herd, with wolves as one of the major causes of the population or herd not meeting established State or Tribal population or herd management goals. Read the rest of this entry »