Montana and Idaho wolves delisted by Congress

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Here’s the Daily Inter Lake’s story on congressionally mandated delisting of wolves . . .

Congress passed legislation Thursday removing Montana and Idaho wolves from the Endangered Species list and returning management to the state, as part of a budget bill to continue federal funding this year.

The legislation was advanced by Montana Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus, along with Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, in the House.

Tester said the overall package is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama.

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Obama expected to sign budget bill containing wolf delisting measure

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This recent post to the Missoulian contains some additional information on the wolf delisting rider attached to the federal budget bill that is expected to be signed into law within the next few days . . .

The U.S. Senate passed a budget bill Thursday that will return gray wolf management to Montana and Idaho state control, settling the question whether the predator is endangered or recovered.

“Our provision does not undermine the Endangered Species Act,” said Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who led the effort to delist the wolf in Congress. “It recognizes the ESA as a success.”

Under a 2009 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisting rule, wolves reached the numbers needed for full recovery in 2002, Tester said in a conference call Thursday afternoon. There are almost 1,700 animals in the three-state area, including about 600 in Montana.

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Congressional move to reduce wolf protections raises concerns about precedent

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This is a pretty good article about the potential implications of the budget bill rider that will remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List in several western states . . .

The White House is poised to accept a budget bill that includes an unprecedented end-run around Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in five Western states — the first time Congress has targeted a species protected under the 37-year-old law.

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Wolf protections expected to be lifted by congress

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A pretty good AP article posted to today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

An attachment to a federal budget bill needed to avert a government shutdown would take gray wolves off the endangered species list across most of the Northern Rockies.

Wildlife advocates conceded Tuesday the wolf provision was all but certain to remain in the spending bill after efforts to remove it failed. Congress faces a tight deadline on a budget plan already months overdue, and the rider has bipartisan support.

It orders the Obama administration to lift protections for wolves within 60 days in five Western states.

Protections would remain intact in Wyoming, at least for now.

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Wolf delisting almost certain to be passed by congress

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It now looks very likely that wolves will be removed from the Endangered Species List. Late last night, Senators Tester and Baucus successfully placed a rider in the “must pass” budget bill that restores the 2009 U.S. Fish and Wildlife rule returning management of gray wolves to state-level control in Montana and Idaho. The rider also prevents judicial review of that rule.

In other words, it looks like there will be wolf hunt in Idaho and Montana this year.

Here’s the actual text of the rider, as posted to Sen. Jon Tester’s web site:

SEC. 1713. Before the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall reissue the final rule published on April 2, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 15123 et seq.) without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule. Such reissuance (including this section) shall not be subject to judicial review and shall not abrogate or otherwise have any effect on the order and judgment issued by the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming in Case Numbers 09–CV–118J and 09–CV–138J on November 18, 2010.

‘Wolfer’ author to discuss hunting predators, appreciation for reintroduction

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Yeah, I know, another wolf post. But this one is a little different, not to mention pretty interesting . . .

Carter Niemeyer didn’t set out to become an expert on wolves.

For the first 26 years of his career, the author of “Wolfer, A Memoir” was the man behind the gun who killed predators that threatened livestock.

This week, Niemeyer will tell that part of his story in appearances around Missoula.

He’ll also let people know how he learned to appreciate the need to bring wolves back to the American West.

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With wolf settlement dead, wolf advocates rush to keep federal protections intact

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From today’s Missoulian . . .

Wildlife advocates are scrambling to remove from the federal budget bill a provision that would lift protections for gray wolves in Montana and Idaho.

John Motsinger with Defenders of Wildlife said Monday his group would continue to fight the provision “until it’s a done deal.” But time is running out, with final language for the bill expected to be released Monday.

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Judge Molloy rejects settlement to lift wolf protections in Montana and Idaho

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This is not a huge surprise. Molloy refused to budge from his previous position that the Endangered Species Act does not provide for a staged withdrawal of protections based on political boundaries . . .

A federal judge has denied a proposed settlement agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 10 conservation groups that would have lifted endangered species protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula on Saturday rejected the agreement that could have led to public hunting of some 1,300 wolves in the two states.

In the 24-page decision, Molloy cited the court’s lack of authority to put part of an endangered species population under state management and expose that population to hunting, noting, “Congress has clearly determined that animals on the ESA must be protected as such,” and the court couldn’t “exercise its discretion to allow what Congress forbids.”

He also said he couldn’t approve the settlement proposed in March because not all the parties involved in the case agreed with it. Part of the argument for the settlement was that it could end litigation, but Molloy noted that was unlikely given the opposition by some to the proposed settlement.

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Pending U.S. budget bill includes language to lift wolf protections in Montana and Idaho

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From an AP article posted to the Missoulian’s online site . . .

Gray wolves in Montana and Idaho would be taken off the endangered list under the budget bill pending before Congress, two Western lawmakers said.

Inclusion of the language to lift protections for wolves was confirmed by the offices of Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson on Saturday.

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