Judge suspend wolf season

[Lee Borgersen]

 Judge Orders Wyoming Wolves Returned to Federal Protection, Hunting Suspended

 September 24, 2014
 
Wyoming has suspended its upcoming wolf season in response to a recent court order.

  ...
On Tuesday, a federal district court judge in Washington, DC ruled that Wyoming’s wolves be returned to federal protection, prompting wildlife officials to suspend the state’s forthcoming wolf season.

“Today, we want all wolf hunters and landowners to know that the take of wolves in Wyoming—hunting and lethal take provisions in Wyoming statute—are suspended because of the federal court ruling,” said WGFD director Scott Talbott in a statement.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the species from the Endangered Species Act in 2012, allowing a handful of states to manage wolf populations with hunting seasons. This quickly became a source of heated debate between hunters and animal rights activists, and in states like Michigan, both sides have introduced citizen-initiated proposals to either halt or protect the wolf harvest. This week’s ruling by Judge Amy Jackson was squarely in the favor of animal rights groups.

“The court has ruled and Wyoming’s kill-on-sight approach to wolf management throughout much of the state must stop,” Tim Preso, an attorney working for the plaintiffs, declared in a press release. “Today’s ruling restores much-needed federal protection to wolves throughout Wyoming, which allowed killing along the borders of Yellowstone National Park and throughout national forest lands south of Jackson Hole where wolves were treated as vermin under state management. If Wyoming wants to resume management of wolves, it must develop a legitimate conservation plan that ensures a vibrant wolf population in the Northern Rockies.”

The case was brought by Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. These organizations have long criticized Wyoming’s wolf hunt, which would formally open for the third time October 1. The lawsuit specifically targeted what the plaintiffs described as “unlimited wolf killing” in predator zones, and so-called inadequate protection for wolves where hunting is regulated. The lawsuit also claims that 219 wolves have been killed in Wyoming since the state opened wolf hunting seasons in 2012, and that the state has a history of “hostile and extreme anti-wolf policies.”

The ruling was not well received by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, which defended its fledgling wolf program.

“The Game and Fish Department believes in our sound management of wolves over the last two years,” Talbott said.

The sale of gray wolf licenses has been suspended and the agency is currently working to refund hunters who have already purchased a license for the upcoming season. The ruling will also likely affect year-round hunting in predator zones and kills made by residents protecting livestock and pets.

“There are many positives in Judge Jackson’s decision. However, she held that Wyoming’s plan was not sufficiently formalized to support the Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2012 rule allowing limited take of gray wolves. We believe an emergency rule can remedy this, and I have instructed the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Attorney General to proceed accordingly,” Governor Matt Mead said.

The state will likely file a motion to stay the decision later this week.

Image courtesy Barry O'Neill/National Park Service


[attachment deleted by admin]

[Lee Borgersen]

  ......News update ....


Wyoming Officials Fight to Save Wolf Season, Governor Mead Files Emergency Rule.

 September 29, 2014

Last week Wyoming Governor Matt Mead signed an emergency rule in response to the recent decision by US District Judge Arm Berman Jackson to restore federal protection to the state’s wolf population. The emergency rule will establish a new management plan by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (GFD) that officials hope will satisfy Jackson’s concerns, while still preserving this year’s upcoming wolf season. Governor Mead announced that the emergency rule will be in place for at least 120 days, but may be extended or become permanent by November.

“Now that Wyoming has resolved the Court’s concern, I hope the Court will amend its ruling and allow Wyoming’s continued management of gray wolves,” Governor Mead said in a press release.

Judge Jackson sided with animal rights groups earlier this month when she ruled that the state’s current management plan was inadequate. Control of the Wyoming’s wolves was originally handed over to Game and Fish from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in October of 2012. At the time, wildlife officials reported that there were 328 wolves living in the Wyoming outside of Yellowstone National Park, comprising a total of 48 packs. Like many states where the wolf population has grown to be considered significantly recovered, sportsmen and ranchers became increasingly worried that wolves were having an adverse effect on wildlife and livestock. To alleviate these fears and help control the population, Wyoming started a dual classification management system where wolves can be harvested as trophy animals or as predatory animals. These liberal hunting regulations were hotly protested by animal rights groups such as Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which criticized the state’s “hostile and extreme anti-wolf policies.”

Judge Jackson agreed and ruled that management of Wyoming’s wolf packs be returned to the USFWS. Game and Fish immediately stopped selling hunting permits and suspended the October 1 season, but they are hoping that the approval of the emergency rule will save the hunt. According to the Associated Press, Wyoming’s request to reverse the court decision must be accepted by the USFWS and plaintiffs in the case before the state can move forward with its management plans. Some activists, however, have already criticized the plan for changing too little.

“What we hope Wyoming does is they go back and put in place a plan that will actually ensure the long-term recovery and survival of wolves in the state,” Mike Senatore, general counsel for Defenders of Wildlife told the Casper Star-Tribune. “We continue to have major problems with the two-tiered statu of wolves in the state.”

Yet the population of wolves in Wyoming appears to have only declined slightly since 2012. Game and Fish reports that 306 wolves still live in the state outside of Yellowstone, making up 43 packs. The department says it will announce any changes to the 2014 hunting season, but is working on a system to refund hunters their license fees if the season continues to be suspended.



A wolf pack corners a bison in Yellowstone National Park. Outside of the park, Wyoming officials are trying to regain control of the state population.


[attachment deleted by admin]

[Lee Borgersen]

 Judge Denies Wyoming Wolf Management Request, Season Suspension Upheld


   What an ongoing battle we have going on here!



 





  October 2, 2014 
 
 






   

  here we go again.............

On Tuesday US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson refused a request from the state of Wyoming to return management of its wolf population to the state’s Game and Fish Department. Earlier in September Jackson ruled that Wyoming’s wolves be returned to federally protected status, calling the state’s current management plan inadequate. In response, Wyoming Governorn Matt Mead signed an emergency regulation to address Jackson’s concerns as a bid to restore the state’s wolf season before the hunt’s opening day on October 1. Upon review, Jackson decided that the new management plan by the state fell short of addressing her concerns, and remanded gray wolf management back to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

“I am disappointed in Judge Berman Jackson’s ruling,” Governor Mead said in a statement. “Wyoming has been successful in its management of gray wolves. There were more wolves in Wyoming at the end of 2013 than in 2012. Wyoming has managed wolves well above the minimum and buffer population numbers. Overturning the [USFWS] delisting decision on a technicality highlights Wyoming’s concerns with the Endangered Species Act”.

As a result, the suspension of all wolf hunting in Wyoming, including in predator zones, continues. The USFWS first turned over wolf management to the state in 2012, after the Service acknowledged that wolves in the Northern Rockies and elsewhere had recovered. Several animal advocacy groups opposed the delisting and filed a lawsuit against the state after Wyoming allowed hunters to harvest wolves as both trophy animals during the winter season and as predatory animals year-round. In her September 23 ruling, Jackson found that management plan was not legally sufficient to support the USFWS’ rule on “limited take” of gray wolves, and returned control of the species back to the federal agency. Wyoming Game and Fish released a press release on Tuesday protesting the decision.

“We are disappointed in the ruling that removes the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s ability to manage gray wolves in Wyoming,” said Chief Game Warden Brian Nesvik. “We will continue to work with the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office to address relevant concerns and ensure wolf management is returned to the state.”

To do that, the agency will either have to appeal the decision or revise their wolf management plan even further. Until that time, the state’s wolf population will remain under the management of the USFWS and federal protections provided by the Endangered Species Act.

A gray wolf heads for an elk carcass in Yellowstone National Park.

Image copyright Getty Images/Richard Seeley

[attachment deleted by admin]