This is an article from the Bozeman Chronicle dated Wednesday, September 29, 2010 . It's a call to de-list Wolves as an endangered species....
After seeing what they can do in Idaho and Montana to game populations both elk and deer something more needs to be done...
Montana Senators want wolves written out of endangered species law
Montana's senators have become the latest lawmakers in Washington who want to change federal law so gray wolves in Montana and Idaho won't enjoy the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Democrats, introduced late Tuesday their legislation that seeks to give Montana and Idaho wildlife agencies control over the gray wolf.
Earlier this month, Idaho Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both Republican, introduced a bill to do largely the same thing, and Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg has released a similar draft bill, though it has not been introduced yet.
More than 1,400 wolves live in the two states.
The flood of bills come in response to a federal court ruling in August that found wildlife officials violated the Endangered Species Act when they designated wolves in Wyoming endangered while saying wolves in Montana were Idaho are not.
The federal Fish and Wildlife Service tried that approach because of Wyoming's stated plan to allow wolves shot on sight in most of the state. Splitting up the states allowed the feds to protect wolves in Wyoming while allowing Montana and Idaho to take over control of the wolf population, which biologists consider recovered.
However, the ruling put the wolf back under the control of the federal government and brought to a halt hunts that many in Montana and Idaho hoped would reduce the wolf population and curb the predator's impact on livestock and elk herds.
The "Resorting State Wildlife Management Act of 2010" runs three pages and states that the Endangered Species Act "shall have no force or effect" on wolves living in Montana and Idaho. Rehberg's draft bill takes a similar tact, prohibiting the government from treating wolves in Idaho and Montana as an endangered species.
The Idaho senators' bill goes farther, calling for gray wolves in Washington, Oregon and Utah to also be put under state management.
Baucus and Tester's bill drew immediate criticism from groups that sued the government over its de-listing plan.
Topic: Vote YES!!! Important Wolf Issue!!! (Read 3830 times)
