Grijalva steps up to bat on another Bush Interior ‘midnight regulation’

Grijalva steps up to the plate and goes to bat against another Bush Interior “midnight regulation” aimed at looting sacred water for the Peabody Western Coal Company while tribes perform spiritual ceremonies. Dang, if you listen close – that sounds like a John Prine endorsement to me !

Impacts have hunters howling

Articles like this spread misperception-

Impacts have hunters howling. Rapid growth of packs, observers say, mirror decline in deer numbers. By Jim Mann, Northwest Daily InterLake.

In fact the number of wolves in Montana, including this area are down this year. The number of wolves in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming is no longer growing.

For the last 7 or so years ago many reporters and politicians have led us to believe that wolf numbers would climb indefinitely. Now that a natural or artificial plateau or decline has been reached, they continue to act as though nothing has happened.

An accurate headline would be “Hunters howl, but fewer wolves do.”

Killing of Hog Heaven pack draws cries of protest

Fortunately the Hog Heaven Pack’s slaughter is not going away. You can bet more of this is planned-

Killing of Pack Draws Cries of Protest. By Jim Mann. Northwest Montana Daily InterLake.

In the article, it reads “Laudon [of MT Fish, Wildlife, Parks] said he can imagine what it would be like if the state completely ignored the concerns of livestock owners and the costs they incur due to wolves.

” ‘There would be a hell of a do-it-yourself club out there,’ he said. ‘We can’t have that. Now that would be a trigger-happy Wild West.’ ”

In fact, without their radio collars and aircraft, a do-it-yourself-club would be far less lethal than Wildlife Services. The problem is Wildlife Services and their “toys.” These need to be taken away from them.

This level of livestock loss is trivial, and would be of no public interest at all were it not wolves.

I have it from a pretty good source that slaughter of this pack (assuming it even was just one huge pack) was a trial run. More will be in order and soon, including Idaho if they get away with this.

With all of the truly bad news out there, what looks like an impending depression, they might think there is enough noise in the news that their actions won’t be noticed.

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Related. Wolf kills rise in Rockies. Bush administration set to remove gray wolves from endangered species list [again]. By MATTHEW BROWN. AP

Michigan “Yooper” wolf poachers show similarities to SSS in ID-WY-MT

Increasing illegal wolf killing in Michigan’s UP-

Resurgent gray wolves killed, despite protection. AP

Bighorn Sheep Rule Stirs Debate in West

Mark Rey recently issued a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) requiring the Forest Service to test bighorn sheep for disease before the federal government allows states to transplant wild sheep on Forest lands.  As one might guess, this move chafes at state wildlife managers’ long-held claim to exclusive management of wildlife. It’s angering bighorn advocates & environmentalists too !       

Bighorn Sheep Rule Stirs Debate in West – Wall Street Journal