Wolves update!

Folks,

I am pleased to announce that the wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana will move forward without judicial interference. It appeared that the last ditch effort to stop this fall’s wolf hunts using the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has been denied. Please read the new article below announcing this important decision. This means that common-sense wolf management can now begin in the West. While this decision is the not the end of the legal challenge, we are pleased to announce that we will not loose another year of wolf management as this litigation works its way through the courts.

As many of you are aware, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife and Big Game Forever have been leading the effort to return the right of states to protect their wildlife populations from unmanaged wolves. The first stage of this effort has been extremely hard fought. We have spent months in Congress working on legislative solutions to return common sense to wildlife management in the West. We have spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the court fighting for the right of states to manage their wildlife.

We have filed a joint appeal with many other wildlife and livestock groups in the 9th circuit that is currently being reviewed. We will continue to fight for abundant wildlife populations now and in the future. Stay tuned for developments as they occur on the legislative and judicial fronts.

We are grateful for your support and willingness to get involved. We must preserve the right of states to manage all of their wildlife with responsibility to ensure a bright future for our outdoor heritage.

Warm Regards,

Ryan Benson

Court denies stay of wolf hunts in Idaho, Montana
By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho | Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:46am EDT
(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court refused on Thursday to block wolf hunts planned in Idaho and Montana while conservation groups press a legal case against an unprecedented act of Congress that lifted federal protection of the animals.


More than 1,500 wolves in Idaho and Montana were removed from the U.S. endangered species list, giving the two states largely unfettered control over the animals, in legislation attached to a stopgap budget bill Congress approved in April.

The delisting came amid a legal battle between environmentalists and the government over whether wolves, which were hunted, trapped and poisoned to near extinction decades ago, had successfully recovered in the Northern Rockies.

Environmental groups sought to overturn the congressional action, which marked the first time an animal has been delisted through legislation rather than a process of scientific review established under the Endangered Species Act. Environmentalists argued that Congress overstepped its authority in doing so.

A federal judge earlier this month sided with the Obama administration, which argued Congress had the authority to carve out an exception to the Endangered Species Act for a particular animal, like the gray wolf.

WildEarth Guardians, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and others sought to restore federal safeguards to wolves by petitioning the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

On August 13, those groups asked the court to stay wolf hunting and trapping planned in Idaho and Montana until the case was decided on its merits.

Idaho plans to reduce its wolf population from about 1,000 to no fewer than 150 in a hunting seasons that open on Tuesday and by trapping. Montana has set a hunting quota of 220 wolves out of a population of 566 in a season that starts in September.

In denying environmentalists' request to temporarily halt the hunts, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit agreed with the administration -- joined by the two states and hunting and farm groups -- that the hunts would not jeopardize recovery of the iconic animal.

"We are discouraged we didn't win a stay of execution for wolves, but we are cautiously optimistic that we will win our lawsuit to protect wolves from future persecution," John Horning, WildEarth Guardians executive director, said in a statement.

The 9th Circuit has set an expedited hearing date in November for the case.

Wolves were reintroduced to the Northern Rockies in the mid-1990s over the objections of ranchers and hunters. They blame wolves for preying on livestock and reducing herds of big-game animals like elk.

Wolves killed 148 cows in Idaho in 2010 out of the state's 2.2 million head of cattle, according to government figures. A recent survey by Idaho wildlife managers shows elk populations exceed or meet biologists' objectives in the vast majority of the state's hunting areas.