An AP article posted to today’s Flathead Beacon . . .
A Republican budget bill would strip gray wolves of Endangered Species Act protections across most of the Northern Rockies.
A two-sentence provision tucked into the GOP’s continuing budget resolution directs Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reissue a 2009 rule that took wolves off the endangered list in Montana, Idaho and parts of Oregon, Washington and Utah.
According to the Missoulian, Montana’s congresscritters are starting this year’s push to get wolf management moved out from under federal control . . .
Gray wolves returned to the crosshairs of Montana’s congressional delegation Wednesday.
Rep. Denny Rehberg announced the introduction of two pieces of legislation that would permanently remove them from the protections of the Endangered Species Act, and Sen. Jon Tester sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking him to allow hunting of wolves in Montana to control their population growth.
(Note that there was also a supporting resolution passed in the Montana House.)
This is going to stir things up. A just-released scientific study concludes that the wolf population is more than high enough to maintain genetic diversity throughout the Northern Rockies. This from the same team that earlier concluded that the wolf population in Yellowstone was genetically isolated, a finding used to argue against removing wolves from Endangered Species Act protection.
Some old research is providing new insight into the genetic diversity of wolves in the Northern Rockies.
Authored by well-known names in the world of wolf reintroduction, the newly published study concludes that as far back as six years ago, wolf numbers were high enough to avoid genetic stagnation in the region.
Mark Hebblewhite, a University of Montana ecologist and longtime wolf researcher, said the study is the most comprehensive paper ever completed on a wild population of carnivores. . .
The study was authored by the same team that earlier reported wolves in Yellowstone National Park were genetically isolated. That information was used to argue against delisting the Northern Rockies population in 2008. . .
For more detail, read the related “News and Views” item from Molecular Ecology, as well as the full scientific paper referenced in the above article. (Both documents are in PDF format and will open in a new window.)
Ben Lamb had an excellent guest commentary posted to last Wednesday’s New West. He’s lost patience with all the political posturing over wolf management. It’s an entertaining read . . .
The political wrangling over wolves since the latest relisting in August is now in full force. It’s unfortunate that we’ve arrived at a place where the only solution that most Montanans see regarding wolves is political in nature.
Looking back over 100 years of wildlife conservation in the state of Montana, political solutions have rarely helped wildlife. In the past, hunter-conservationists struggled mightily to remove political influence from wildlife management, and we were largely successful. . .