If Push Comes To Shove, What Will ID, WY And MT Do About Wolves?

It would be a huge understatement to say that a few people in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are getting quite upset over the entire drawn out process of trying to get control of a burgeoning wolf population that is growing at a rate that will soon destroy wildlife herds and posed very serious problems with ranchers and people in general. But those in support of allowing the gray wolf to grow and disperse unchecked seem to really have no concern for any of this. Are we posed for this all to come to a giant head?

Presently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it plans to remove federal protection of wolves in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountains, excluding Wyoming. A Final Rule is expected to be published as early as this week. Once that is complete, it will take 30 days for the Rule to take effect and then 60 days for all the anti-everything groups to line up with their gobs of money and sue, sue, sue! It’s an old scratchy record.

If all of this isn’t complicated enough, and getting very expensive, throw into the middle of it a change in administration in Washington. Entering the mix is clearly the most left-wing, anti-hunting, anti-gun, pro environmental, drop dead in love with global warming, animal loving group of people the world has ever seen. They will be taking over Washington. Surely we can’t expect the Obama administration to allow the states to manage their own wolves.

After all, to allow the states to exercise their rights to sovereignty would run contrary to President elect Obama’s political ideals. To him it’s all about big government. The bigger the better. Government must control everything and more than likely this will be a great tool at his disposal to begin to reign in those unruly westerners, perhaps our last hope to salvage a freedom loving country.

My work in the field of hunting, fishing, outdoors and wildlife management exposes me to a pretty good cross section of people. I can tell you with no uncertainty that the natives are getting restless. They have had it with the Federal government, they are fed up with the Department of Interior and the USFWS, many are disgusted with their own state governments, which includes fish and game departments and most of all they are tired of the unending lawsuits from outsiders who demand their own way, have the money to force the issues and the activist judges who will side with them. In short, they are being put into a position where they will either take extreme measures or give up, neither of which is a good thing.

For some time now, I have been hearing rumblings and grumblings. In some western states, groups and individuals are poised with legislative proposals that, if approved, would definitely force the hand of the Federal government. In essence some of these proposals are very much to the point of telling the Feds to get to hell out of their state and either take their wolves with them or the state will take care of them for them. This isn’t good either, but in all honesty if the states either individually or collectively did this, they can’t be blamed. They have been promised things from before wolves were dropped into the forests and none of them have been adhered to. In short, the people have had it with false promises while they sit and watch their years of work to restore game herds like the elk, while the wolf program destroys it.

Rocky Barker writes today in the Idaho Statesman asking similar questions and wondering what the new Interior Department chief will do. He also is wondering how much longer each of the states are going to be used and abused.

Schweitzer [Montana governor] is telling you that if delisting is delayed it will empower the radical anti-wolf forces in his state who have said all along the environmentalists – and now the Obama administration – would never allow the states to take over management. He would report that a bill may come to his desk from the Legislature this year, calling on him to tell the federal government to “shove it” on wolves.

It has long been the argument against the so-called animal rights groups that their ultimate goal isn’t saving wildlife and that this tactic is merely a tool to achieve the end. If these groups have an inkling of saving animals, they have now reached a point where they are going to cause people to kill wolves both out of anger and to protect their property. Not one of these organizations has ever offered a compromise. The people have been lied to and the federal government has been spineless to stand up and advocate for the science of wildlife management.

People will only allow themselves to be pushed so far. As I said before, once they reach a point they will either stand up and fight or give up. I see both happening now. Questions still remain. Will Ken Salazar, the new Interior chief, pursue wolf delisting or will he and the Obama administration stop this process and pander to the environmentalists? Will the animal rights groups continue their selfish agenda and mount bigger lawsuits? Will the individual states draft legislation in hopes of regaining the sovereignty once guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution? Will “we the people” fight back, valuing our freedoms, property rights and the right to prosper?

Tom Remington

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