RMEF: Silver Linings in Wyoming Wolf Management Ruling
GW: More wasted taxpayers’ money because of the Equal Access to Justice Act. Why? Because Senator Reid will not let reform to come to a vote, despite the efforts of the House. Why? Because animal rights whackos are part of his base.
MISSOULA, Mont.-The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation maintains a ruling that restores federal protections to wolves in Wyoming is basically a technicality that can easily be fixed on Wyoming’s end. The State of Wyoming is in the process of adopting an emergency rule to do so.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled out of her Washington D.C. courtroom that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) was wrong to rely on Wyoming’s non-binding promises to maintain a buffer above the FWS minimum of 10 breeding pair and at least 100 wolves outside of Yellowstone Park and the Wind River Indian Reservation. Montana and Idaho initially had the 10 breeding pair and 100 wolf minimum, but a 50 percent “buffer” of 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves was implemented for those two states.
The plaintiffs argued the following four points about the Wyoming wolf population, and they were denied a favorable ruling by Judge Jackson relative to the first three:
Wolves have not recovered.
Wolves are at risk because of a lack of genetic connectivity.
Wyoming allowing wolves to be treated as a predator in some areas does not meet the Endangered Species Act requirements of protections over a significant part of the species’ range.
Wyoming’s current regulatory mechanism to insure a population of more than 10 breeding pair and 100 wolves is inadequate and represents a non-binding promise.
“There are some silver linings within this ruling handed down from Judge Jackson as she ruled against three claims made by the plaintiffs including confirmation of the fact that Wyoming’s wolf population has recovered and is not endangered,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “We anticipate Wyoming will be able to fix the issue with how its wolf management plan is written to satisfy the court.” Read more
Seven winners will be chosen to win ultimate waterfowl hunting prize packages valued at $1,500, including a “golden ticket” for one first-choice pick at a Managed Waterfowl Hunt Area (MWHA) for the 2015-16 season (non-reserved). Other prizes include a Mossberg 835 camo waterfowl and turkey combo 12-gauge shotgun, Zink custom duck and goose calls, Avian X mallard and goose decoys, and waterfowl hunting gear. Contest partner Michigan United Conservation Clubs will select winners 
The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) is pleased to report that hemorrhagic disease (HD), including EHD and bluetongue virus, seems to have taken a summer vacation in 2014, and the danger of a serious outbreak this year has now passed. Transmitted by biting gnats, the disease usually hits deer hardest in late summer and early fall, especially in unusually hot, dry years.