Tag Archives: wolves

Activists sue to block wolf hunt

August 21, 2009Environmental Issues, Newswolf hunt, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

As expected, a coalition of wolf advocates sued to block the Montana and Idaho wolf hunts Thursday. As posted on the Missoulian’s web site . . .

A coalition of wolf advocates filed a request to block wolf hunting seasons in Idaho and Montana on Thursday afternoon in Missoula’s federal district court.

“Because Idaho Fish and Game delayed its decision on setting the mortality level until the last minute, we’re filing for injunctive relief at the last moment,” said EarthJustice attorney Jenny Harbine. “It could be that Idaho would start (its wolf hunting season) before we’re able to get a remedy.”

The coalition is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in order to reverse the federal agency’s decision removing the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act in Montana and Idaho. Both states set up 2009 hunting seasons for wolves, with Idaho’s hunt beginning Sept. 1 in some regions. The earliest part of Montana’s season will start Sept. 15.

Read the entire story . . .

Opponents line up for wolf hunt lawsuit

July 29, 2009Environmental Issues, Newswolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

As expected, this year’s proposed wolf hunt may produce more lawsuits than dead wolves. Here’s the latest, as posted yesterday on the Flathead Beacon web site . . .

Supporters of proposed public hunts of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies are intervening in a federal court case brought by environmentalists who want to stop the hunts.

The federal government in May removed more than 1,300 wolves in Montana and Idaho from the endangered species list, opening the door to the first hunts in decades. Environmentalists later sued to restore federal oversight.

Read the entire article . . .

Wolf licenses on sale August 17th — maybe

July 9, 2009Environmental Issues, Newshunting season, Montana FWP, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

The Clark Fork Chronicle reports that hunting licenses for Wolves go on sale in Montana on August 17. In northwest Montana, the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission set a quota of 41. Interestingly, the North Fork has a specific sub-quota of 2 wolves.

As just about every article on the subject has mentioned, this year’s wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho are sort of theoretical at this point. They will almost certainly be challenged in court.

For more details on wolf regulation and many related subjects, visit the Montana FWP “Wolf Conservation” page.

Morning round-up: wolves and wildfires

July 8, 2009Environmental Issues, Fire Information and Status, Newswildfires, wolvesnfpa

According to an Associated Press article, Montana and Idaho are setting hunting season quotas for wolves this year. This is likely a pro forma action, since any wolf hunt will be challenged in court by a number of environmental groups.

The Missoulian reports that Montana is probably in for a normal fire season. “Normal” means something on the order of 420,000 acres burned and around 1800 fires, mostly human-caused.

New wolf delisting rule brings new lawsuit

June 3, 2009Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species Act, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

From today’s online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

A coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the recent delisting of gray wolves in Montana and Idaho, raising some of the same legal issues that blocked delisting last year.

But there is a new twist in the litigation — the plaintiffs will challenge the federal government decision to exclude Wyoming from its delisting rule because of that state’s inadequate wolf management plan.

Read the entire article . . .

Wolves off endangered list — for a few more days, anyways

May 4, 2009Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species Act, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

This whole wolf thing is getting a little confusing, but here’s the latest, as posted in today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

Wolves in parts of the Northern Rockies and the Great Lakes region come off the endangered species list Monday — opening the way for public hunting of the animals to begin in some states this fall.

But prior attempts to remove federal protection for the predators have been rejected by judges and new legal challenges are certain.

Read the entire article . . .

Wolf numbers and sightings up

March 29, 2009Environmental Issues, Newswolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

Today’s Missoulian features a pretty good article on the current state of wolf populations throughout Montana and adjoining areas. The “hook” is the increased number of sightings near Missoula, but there is a lot of general information, as well.

Here’s the lead-in . . .

The howl of the wolf soon may be heard in Missoula.

Neighbors at the end of Marshall Canyon found wolf-killed wildlife in the drainage just northeast of the Missoula Valley in mid-March. Hunters last fall reported wolf tracks and scat in the Rattlesnake Wilderness and Gold Creek drainage. Residents in Bonner noticed the bighorn sheep hanging closer to town last winter, and wondered if wolves might be spooking them.

Read the entire article . . .

“Ululating” wolves

March 19, 2009CommentaryG. George Ostrom, Larry Wilson, New York Times, North Fork Flathead, wolvesnfpa

G. George Ostrom pokes fun at Larry Wilson and the New York Times and comes up with an excuse to use “ululating” in this week’s Hungry Horse News. Oh… and he also says some nice things about the North Fork.

Read the article . . .

Wolf delisting back on track

March 7, 2009Environmental Issues, Newswolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

The Saturday, March 7, 2009 issue of the Daily Inter Lake has a pretty good overview of the current plan to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species . . .

There had been uncertainty about how the Obama administration would proceed, but Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Friday the decision to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species.

The delisting proposed by Salazar mirrors a move by the Bush administration in January that was suspended in order for the new administration to review. It will apply to wolves in the western Great Lakes region and in Montana and Idaho, but not in Wyoming.

Read the entire article . . .

Salazar OKs Wolf Removal From Endangered List

March 6, 2009Environmental Issues, Newswolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

From the Friday, March 6, 2009 online edition of the Flathead Beacon . . .

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday he was upholding a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and the western Great Lakes from the federal endangered list.

Salazar said wolves would remain a protected species in Wyoming because its law and management plans were not strong enough. But management of the predator will be turned over to state agencies in Montana and Idaho and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah, in addition to the Great Lakes states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Read the entire article . . .