The Judge Who Cried Wolf

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Endangered-species protections reinstated for gray wolves

Posted at 6:01 PM on 18 Jul 2008

A federal judge has ruled that wolves should be returned to the endangered-species list for now, derailing plans for wolf hunts in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The 2,000 or so gray wolves that inhabit the three states were removed from the endangered list in March; environmentalists sued to get them back on, saying populations were not yet stable. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, over 100 gray wolves have been killed by hunters in the days since they were delisted, a rate of almost a wolf a day. The federal judge will eventually decide if the relisting should be permanent. Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may appeal.

sources: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times

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Comments: (17 comments)

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interbreeding

Judge Molloy's argument, based on assuring that the several re-introduced populations have a chance to meet and interbreed, is very nice, brilliant and thoughtful. And it may offer a helpful precedent for other animals with large ranges. For that matter, it may help establish protected corridors for wolves who seem to be moving between eastern Idaho and Oregon and Washington.

It is remarkable, though, that wolf-hatred is so great, that already over a hundred wolves have been killed. Human beings are scary creatures.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 1:21 AM on 19 Jul 2008

Wow

One Wolf per day killed. I wonder if this decision will actually stop it though?

Imagine sadistic bush voters running down Wolves on snowmobiles and helicopters. Running them until their hearts burst. This is typical "sportsman" behaviour.

A few youtube videos of this cruelty would go a long way towards changing this situation permanently with new legislation. PETA and other wildlife defenders, why not get your cameras rolling on this?

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 1:32 AM on 19 Jul 2008

the howling

i have something to say about htis topic as well. i have been to idaho and wyoming and yes there is is alot of antiwolf sentiment up their but by the oldtimers and rancher types but tollerance is what i teach my childern as well as the fact that time is on the side of childern and educating is the way. wolves have and incredible ability to survive and and to expand their territory i have first hand knowledge of sightings as far south as fort garland colorado and although one wolf a day is just crazy i have more hope for the wolf than the wolf hating population ignorance is the biggest killer of all

flying under the radar

by treestump at 10:29 AM on 19 Jul 2008

Big Victory!

Hooray for my cousin Wolf! They suffer immensely at the hand of the trouble monkeys, AKA naked apes.

Now if the government would just have the morals and courage to stop the killing of the wolves in New Mexico.

by Wolverine at 1:06 PM on 19 Jul 2008

Our Day in Court... We won this one, for now.

Hurray and blessings upon those that stood up to the gov't/corporate machine that would like to see our brother wolves dissapear.

We still have a long way to go in the realm of human development. Killing wolves and other animals for sport is just wrong. It's thrill killing. These sportsman and ranchers have little value for life, canid or human.

Perhaps we will just have to litigate them all the way back to the holes the crawled out of; the cowboy lifestyle is dead; and its about time. Chalk up another victory for good.

Most times for evil to win it doesn't take a large, horrible event; it just takes a lot of people each doing just a little bad. AOOOOOOooooooooo.........

by Wolfy at 4:09 PM on 19 Jul 2008

Ahhouooooouuoooohhh!

Back at ya Wolfy! I'm going to camp tomorow night where I saw a Wolf a year ago. Magic. Forest magic.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 4:25 PM on 19 Jul 2008

love the fluffy wolf

it makes me absolutely sick that people try to make them selves feel like more of a man by killing something. why on this green earth do people think that it is okay to hunt innocent equals, just for the sake that we have the ability. - I'm such a big man, i got a gun, i kill, and i feel better about myself, and hey i can send my dead animal picks into a magazine and maybe even win an award for killing an animal that has every right to live and breath as much as we do.- we have the intelligence to protect and help our fellow animals, to ensure that our world will not die in vain. that our world will not die because of us!

One World- Don't let it die!

by freakdreads at 5:13 PM on 19 Jul 2008

encouragement

Thanks, Treestump, for pointing out that young people in the Northern Rockies have more sensitivity regarding wolves and ecosystems than do the old folk.

Thanks, Freakdreads, for appreciating the wolf's beauty, and for appealing to our intelligence.

Thanks, Wolfy, for "Hurray and blessings," a beautiful expression.

Thanks, Wolverine, for reminding us of the wolf-hatred down in New Mexico, which is even worse than it is up in the Northern Rockies, and which has made the re-introduction of the Mexican subspecies of the gray wolf in the Gila Mountains very difficult and questionable all along. Ironically, that is where one of our leading environmentalist heroes, Aldo Leopold, had his life turned around, when he observed the death of a she-wolf whom he had shot.

Thanks, Amazing, in general. No one can doubt that one's experience in the wilderness is radically altered, and made more brilliant, by the presence of a big predator, such as a wolf, or a bear. I do not remember if I asked you before if you have ever visited the International Wolf Center at Ely, MN. They seem to be doing very good work there.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 2:40 AM on 20 Jul 2008

Ely

No I haven't been there yet Canis. It's been years since I've been north of Duluth.

There's a trail run near Lutsen by Grand Marais that I maybe able to do next year. 26, 50, or 100 miles. 26 is best I think.

http://uppermidwesttrailrunners.com/superior/fall/maratho ...

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 4:43 AM on 20 Jul 2008

Wolf Killing

Some of the posters here seem to be grossly misinformed about the reason for wolf slaughters. While sport hunting, which is totally immoral in every way, plays a minor part, the major reason that wolves and other predators were eliminated from the West and that they are currently having a hard time coming back is the ranching industry. If you support wolves and other wildlife, the biggest thing you can do is to stop eating beef and tell everyone you can why you're doing so. This is a very hard sell, as I couldn't even get Earth First! to support a beef boycott in the mid '80s, and western ranchers were one of our main enemies.

by Wolverine at 10:03 AM on 20 Jul 2008

Right, Wolverine.

And yet, most ironically, wolves are responsible for only a very teensy fraction of ranchers' losses. They have much more to fear from dogs on the loose than from wolves.

Amazing,
that website does not want to give me maps, in spite of the fact that they boast about their maps, so I do not know exactly where you mean.

But why do you say "next year"? You do not think you could be ready for this September?

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 10:49 AM on 20 Jul 2008

Hmm no map?

They just aren't as efficient and organized as Great Lakes Endurance, the originators of the other trail runs (all of them) I've entered this year.

I don't know Canis, I will see how I feel after The Grand Island Trail Marathon. They have maps.

http://www.greatlakesendurance.com/race_info.htm

Will I see a Wolf or Bear? It's possible. We won't be shootinmg at them, that's for sure! Littering is an automatic DQ too.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 11:03 PM on 20 Jul 2008

thanks, Amazing; cats and dogs

Do the Aldo Leopold, in the Fall, in honor of a great American hero! Meanwhile, break a leg for Grand Island Trail!

Wolves and bears know enough to run away from us smelly primates. Mountain lions are different, though. Be careful!

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 12:27 AM on 21 Jul 2008

Yep

Running in Aldo's world Canis. I better reread "Sand County Almanac" for that. That black Wolf let me get a glimpse last year up by the spot I went in the river earler tonight.

It was a hot sweat, with many rounds of red hot rocks, heated in a big fire, then in the rushing crystal clear, rich with fish molecules river.

The rushing water washed away all the civilization, exposing a wild natural core. Aum.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 12:45 AM on 21 Jul 2008

great news!

Speaking of Aldo, the man had great things to say about wolves. Particularly that fierce green fire in that slowly dimmed as the wolf died. That's when the man stopped hunting.

Thanks for getting this article out there! I feel that the wolf is often forgotten about these days and its recovery is taken for granted. But the battle is long and hard and the opposition is fierce. People need to be aware that the gray wolf is far from safe.

http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlegacy/blog/index.asp

by MattKirby at 12:24 PM on 21 Jul 2008

Maybe our fairy tales are to blame for the hatred

I guess growing up with the Big Bad Wolf really has stuck in some people's heads. I'm in Montana and have fought against wolf hunting the best that I can. Nothing is more majestic than a wolf hanging in the woods, but our cousin Coyote also needs some protection.

The coyote is still an allowable animal to hunt unfortunately and the wolfs little cousin is persecuted in Wolfs stead. Remember Coyote, too.

It is really a shame that we honor the dog as man's best friend, but their ancestor is hated so vehemently.

"For as long as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until then may I too abide, to dispel the misery of the world." - Shantideva

by mtvyfan at 7:14 AM on 22 Jul 2008

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