Wolf Update
Just thought that I would let everyone know that the wolf issue will be back in court; guaranteed when it is allowed. I talked with a guy (very informative and a long history in wildlife politics) and he said his organization is planning on taking the wolf issue back to court. They are either going to want each state to change something in their management plan or the mechanism in which the process has happened getting the wolves de-listed be reviewed. The guy is not going to be a part of the court case at all, but the organization he works for is. Something like this is going to have to show some type of science on why a certain states management plan is not good for the wolf or prove the delisting mechanism used to de-list the wolves was different than what was used to put the wolves on the ESA. Species have to be put on and taken off the ESA using the same process and such. He told me that the wolves will be in the courts for the next few years, but it is up to the courts to decide if the wolves should stay listed or de-listed while the case is going on. Even if the wolves are de-listed; the federal government will watch each state for 5 years and see how their management of the wolves goes. That is how part of the ESA works. After those five years; a state can decide to do whatever they want. A state can even decide to wipe out all the wolves; if they choose. There is no law preventing this from happening. The only problem is public’s opinion, animal rights groups, and the possibility of the federal government taking control back. It is however possible, that wolves could be wiped out all together. Not that it will ever happen or if that is even the ethical thing to do.
I have read that ranchers in eastern Oregon want to amend the Oregon wolf management plan to allow them to shoot or hunt down wolves that have killed their livestock. This may be a bad idea, since it will give groups fuel in cases to put the wolves back on the ESA list. It may show that the states are not capable of managing the wolves for recovery and that the federal government should keep the control under the ESA.
We need to do everything we can to work with the states and even the federal government to help keep the wolves de-listed. Everything that we say and do will only fuel the fire in the courts and show that the states and people are not ready to manage the wolves. We should ask ourselves if we really want the wolves de-listed. It is very easy to get the wolf issue tied up in court for years and very hard to keep them de-listed and start a hunting season. ID, WY, MT may have to deal with some major problems because of court cases through the future. I hope Oregon and Washington can learn from this and get through all the court cases before our wolf population gets out of hand. We don’t have many wolves right now and should be thankful. We may see the Oregon wolf management plan increase in the number of wolf packs go up in the future. Don’t blame this on Oregon or the ODFW. The ESA is what keep Oregon from having a say if the wolves should be allowed or not in this state. The federal government and the ESA always have a say over the states, such as Oregon. Organizations are using the wording in the ESA; to keep this issue wrapped up in the courts. I’m sure they will find the 88-100 wolves that Oregon will allow in this state not enough and want the management plan to change and allow more. Oregon may see the plan go from 100 wolves in the state go up to 1,000 wolves. Time will only tell. I’m not sure on what we can do, but will try to get more information.