ThinkingAfield.org

Great Lakes Wolves Relisted

9/23/09

States in the Great Lakes will have to wait to resume state management over their grey wolf populations as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) officially placed that population back under Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection.

The final rule from FWS concerning the “relisting” of the Great Lakes wolves was issued and made effective on September 16. This represents yet another turn in what has already been a long story of listings, de-listings, and lawsuits.

The Great Lakes wolf population was removed from protection under ESA by the FWS. This action, proposed by the outgoing Bush Administration and then reaffirmed by the new Obama Administration, initially returned the management of wolf populations to the states (in this case Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin).

However, a group of antis, including the Humane Society of the United States, filed a lawsuit to block the delisting in June. While the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) was preparing to intervene in the case with its legal arm, the FWS reached a settlement with the antis that put wolves back on the Endangered Species List. The September 16 final rule is the culmination of that process.

This entire situation was the result of the Department of Interior’s not following proper procedures for delisting during the final weeks of the Bush Administration. Currently, USSA is working with the FWS on another delisting, because science has shown the populations have significantly passed the benchmarks established for recovery.

Serial poacher Gary Vorhies has been found guilty of four poaching charges in Big Horn County.

Vorhies, 47, was sentenced to four years in jail with three years suspended and $27,120 in fines and restitution.

Click on the title for the full story from the Cody Enterprise.

A recent decision by a federal judge paves the way for planned hunts of gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain region to continue.

Last week, Judge Donald W. Molloy of the Federal District Court for Montana ruled against a coalition of antis and environmentalists that were seeking to prevent hunts in Montana and Idaho. In the decision, Judge Molloy indicated that the management plans of both states would not harm the long-term health of the regional wolf population.

It is estimated that 1,350 wolves currently live in the region. Idaho’s wolf hunting season, which began on September 1, established a limit of 220 wolves that can be harvested. Montana’s season, which began September 15, has a harvest limit of 75.

While this fall’s hunts will continue in Idaho and Montana, Wyoming still has yet to develop a plan that meets service approval. This did not go unnoticed in the judge’s opinion on the case.

In it, Judge Malloy states that there appeared to be a violation of the Endangered Species Act when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refused to delist a portion of the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population that resides in Wyoming. According to him, “the service has distinguished a natural population of wolves based on a political line, not the best available science.” He went on to state, “that, by definition, seems arbitrary and capricious.”

Submitted by Joel Malcuit
Eaton County Quality Deer Management

Brent Rudolph, DNR Deer Research Specialist, gave a presentation to the Michigan NRC regarding a possible change of the Firearms Deer Season Opener. The major points discussed were as follows: 1) The possible reduction of conflict for hunters between work and school with a change to a Saturday opener, 2) The economic impact of a Saturday opener, 3) The impact on hunter recruitment, and 4) The biological impact of moving the opener in relation to the whitetail breeding season. These issues were discussed in the context of only three possible opening date changes that are being considered.

Saturday before Thanksgiving
Saturday closest to Nov. 15th
Saturday after Nov. 15th

He noted that positioning the opener ahead of the breeding season would have a negative effect on fawn recruitment. The presentation was well done and persuasive to these conclusions and there was no rebuttal from the commissioners or others at the meeting. A 2006 attitude survey shows that 84% of Michigan hunters prefer a Nov. 15th opener and 12% were opposed. It was also noted that any change to the opening date would require extensive rearrangement of many of the other hunting seasons because they are anchored to, or coordinated with, the deer season, e.g., early and late archery seasons and small game seasons.

At the end of the presentation Commissioner Wheatlake, who initiated the investigation into this issue, made the statement that any action by the commission would not be imminent. He recommended to the board that they continue discussion of this matter only after the DNR collects new attitude survey data for 2009-2010 and he also wanted to contact some of the captive cervid biologists in the state (Legends and Sanctuary) because they have data that may indicate that the peak of the rut is starting to occur later in November than it traditionally has. He also made the statement that if they made any changes that he would recommend moving the date back instead of forward in order to avoid any possible negative biological impact.

BELLEVUE, WA – Yesterday’s primary defeat of career anti-gunner Richard Aborn in his race to become Manhattan&rs quo;s District Attorney shows that even residents of a city with some of the strictest gun laws in the nation reject the gun control philosophy espoused by Aborn and those who supported him, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said Wednesday.

Aborn, a former president of Handgun Control Inc. – now known as The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence – ran primarily on his gun control record. He collected only 26 percent of the vote.

“Keeping guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens m ay appeal to demagogues like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “but it doesn’t play well with average citizens who are tired of being victimized, not only by criminals, but by the very laws that people of Aborn’s ilk have forced on them.

“Richard Aborn had the endorsement of the Brady Campaign, Million Mom March, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and other anti-gun-rights organizations,” he added. “We hope that his rejection sends a message to other gun control extremists that voters have had enough rhetoric and are fed up with restrictions on their gun rights.”

Gottlieb said Aborn’s last-place finish in the three-way race, which was won by attorney Cy Vance, is a repudiation of the gun prohibitionist philosophy he has represented over the past 17 years.

“Aborn’s defeat should be a signal to other politicians that an endorsement from the Brady Campaign or any other anti-gun group is a political kiss of death,” Gottlieb observed. “This de feat shows that there is no room in politics, especially in a prosecutor’s office, for anyone harboring the kind of extremist opinions about gun rights and gun ownership that Richard Aborn has wanted to enforce as public policy.”

Task Force 20/20 Continues Setting Agenda for Five-year Plan

Group to meet this week in Buda, Texas, to capitalize
upon gains made at NSSF Summit in June

NEWTOWN, Conn.–The Task Force 20/20 group, comprising industry leaders from the hunting and shooting sports, is continuing to work toward its goal of increasing participation in hunting and the shooting sports by 20 percent over the next five years. The task force is meeting this week at the Cabela’s store in Buda, Texas. This is the group’s first meeting since the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Summit in June in Weston, Fla., where each Task Force subgroup presented ideas to achieve this momentous goal.

Task Force 20/20 began in 2008 during the NSSF Summit whose primary focus was discussing research from a three-year study titled “The Future of Hunting and the Shooting Sports–Research-based Recruitment and Retention Strategies.” The report condenses the findings of one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on factors related to the hunting and shooting sports industry. Funding for the research came from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the form of a multi-state conservation grant. NSSF commissioned Responsive Management to conduct the research for the report.

“This meeting is taking what we learned from the Shooting Sports Summit in June and further breaking it into actionable items,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF senior vice president. “By working together we can make real and measurable headway toward achieving our goal of increasing participation by 20 percent over the next five years.”

Since 2008 the group has divided out into subgroups to help separate a larger goal into smaller parts. Those parts are Youth Programs, Recruitment, Retention, Access & Opportunity, Aging Demographics and Coordinating Efforts. Each group named a “Champion” or “Co-Champions” to help lead the efforts. This past June each champion led breakout groups to discuss possible models to move forward with the proposed efforts.

“Since the Summit our committees have digested all the information from the stakeholders involved, and we are prioritizing what we can accomplish in the short and long term. We are establishing efforts that will have a lasting impact in hunting and the shooting sports,” said the Youth Group Committee Champion Jeff Rawlinson from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

The Task Force consists of leaders from the media, state and federal agencies, manufacturers, retailers, non-profit and non-government agencies and shooting ranges and retailers.

BELLEVUE, WA – Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) is once again demonstrating her disdain for gun owners and their rights by opposing an amendment to her Amtrak funding legislation that would allow firearms to be carried in baggage aboard trains, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

“Patty Murray evidently has a short memory span,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Has she already forgotten what happened to her friend, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, in the primary because of his extremist anti-gun philosophy? Surely she knows about Tuesday’s primary election results in New York City, where anti-gunner Richard Aborn came in last in a three-way race for Manhattan prosecutor by running on his gun control record.”

Murray is opposing an amendment, added to her Amtrak bill by Sen. Roger Wi cker (R-MS), that would allow train travelers to transport firearms in their luggage, provided the guns are declared at check-in and they are locked up for transport. This is no different than flying with firearms, Gottlieb noted, “and people do that every day.”

“The amendment passed 68-30,” Gottlieb noted, “and Murray’s opposition shows she is way out of the mainstream on this issue. Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid supports the measure. People used to take firearms on trains all the time. Someone should tell the senator that constitutional rights don’t end at the Amtrak boarding platform.”

Murray argues that the amendment would be too costly and time-consuming, because Amtrak would have to create a process for checking and tracking guns.

“That’s a bogus argument,” Gottlieb countered, “and she knows it. The Transportation Security Administration already has that process down pat. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. That option has apparently not occurred to her, or maybe it has and she just can’t get beyond her narrow gun prohibitionist viewpoint.

“Amtrak has been losing money for years,” Gottlieb concluded. “Maybe it’s because American gun owners won’t travel with a carrier that treats them like outcasts. Maybe gun owners will return that sentiment when Murray runs for re-election next year.”

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

Years ago, I worked with a gentleman from Scotland who once remarked that if he were wealthy, he would hire someone to break in new shoes for him. I, too, have my own wealthy bucket list: I’d get someone to fetch arrows for me after I fling them downrange. Kids would be good for that, but I’m fresh out of them now. A Labrador retriever might work, but bent up arrows would be as useful as Barack Obama’s lecturing about the virtues of green jobs to coal miners in West Virginia.

I’ve never been one to practice with my bow for months before the season – in a large measure because of my aversion to retrieving arrows. But, it’s more than that. My bow is an ancient PSE Fireflight – the only one I’ve ever owned. I pull it out of the case every year, nock an arrow and take pleasure in its accuracy without any tweaking whatsoever. At a mere 57 pounds draw weight, it’s smooth, easy, and predictable.

But that was then. No, I didn’t splurge on a crossbow, although I’ve given it careful consideration. For many years I have used an electronic transmitter in the arrow shaft, when coupled with its receiver, permits me to locate my arrows, which are designed to remain in game by means of a penetration limiting design. The trouble is that the system appears to be obsolete, which means when the battery-powered transmitter finally dies, so does the whole concept. So, rather than wait for the inevitable, I have chosen to revert to more conventional methods of game recovery: watching, trailing, and a good hound dog.

One of the disadvantages of having a transmitter in the arrow shaft has been its weight of 65 grains. Even with the lightest of broadheads at 75 grains, my arrows have been quite heavy and slow.

It was time for an experiment to see if I could flatten trajectory a bit. I wondered how much speed I would gain by eliminating the transmitter and going with only a 75-grain tip. I set up a chronograph to measure arrow speed and found that the 140-grain model was poking along at 193 feet-per-second (fps.) I swapped tips and gained a whopping 10 fps. I was hoping for much more but without increasing draw weight or going against my innate cheapness and moving up to carbon arrows, I’d have to settle for my new reality.

But statistics are just that. Statistics. I had to determine what the extra speed and lighter shafts would mean at the range. So, I set up three arrows with 140-grain practice points and three with 75-grainers. Without moving my sight pins, I shot the heavy ones first. As usual, they were on the mark at 20 yards; the lighter ones were several inches higher, as anticipated.

Moving back to 25 yards, the difference became more evident, and at 30 yards about six inches of elevation drop was eliminated with the “speedy” models. No doubt I was on to something but it will take some tweaking and practice to get acquainted with my new, old bow. Anybody have any ambitious kids with time on their hands?

Glen Wunderlich: “Obama stays the course by surrounding himself with tax cheats, communists, Second Amendment enemies, and now an anti-hunter, as well, to further change – change from the greatest country in the world to one of tyranny.

Columbus) – Last night the sportsmen’s community came within five votes of stopping the nomination of Cass Sunstein to serve as the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), otherwise known as the “Regulatory Czar.” Sunstein is an avowed anti hunter and does not believe the second amendment applies to individual gun ownership.

While a confirmation vote took place today, it was a formality after the Senate voted to over-ride a hold placed on the nomination by Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson. It would have taken 40 votes to prevent the confirmation. Opponents of Sunstein were only able to earn 35. Alarmingly 22 out of 53 senators who are members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus voted in favor of Sunstein.

“Having 42 percent of the sportsmen’s caucus vote for an anti-hunter when were just five votes away was a real blow,” said Bud Pidgeon, USSA president and CEO. “As we have, sportsmen should take note which of their ‘friends’ voted for them and which did not.”

Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow is one sportsmen’s caucus member that voted for Sunstein.

“As a hunter and conservationist I am extremely disappointed that Senator Debbie Stabenow voted to confirm Cass Sunstein,” stated Bill Walker, member and past president of the Michigan Bear Hunters Association. “As a member of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Congress, Senator Stabenow’s vote is hypocritical because it confirms the appointment of an outspoken animal rightist who could undermine hunting and effective wildlife management.”

The USSA and others, including the National Wild Turkey Federation, argued for weeks that Sunstein’s views against recreational hunting, the second amendment and on giving animals standing in court should persuade the Senate to defeat the appointment.

(Columbus, Ohio) – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has scheduled a vote for Wednesday, September 9 on a presidential nominee opposed by many American hunters, gun owners, and farmers.

The nominee, Cass Sunstein, has been tapped to lead the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) or “Regulatory Czar” as the position is known. The job functions as the “choke point” between the White House and regulations from government agencies including the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The vote will take place over the objection of Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), who is attempting to place a hold on the appointment. To force the confirmation vote, Senator Reid has scheduled a vote of cloture – a procedural move to force a vote on an appointment. Cloture requires 60 yes votes.

That is where the controversy begins. Sunstein has written and spoken extensively regarding his anti-hunting and anti-2nd amendment positions. He’s also advocated in favor of legal standing in a court of law for animals.

For example, he has written that the history of the 2nd amendment does not support the concept that it covers individual gun ownership rights, but rather that it was intended to cover state militia’s or today’s national guards. This in spite of the recent Supreme Court decision reaffirming an individual’s right to own firearms.

Sunstein has also written that if the sole purpose of hunting were recreation, perhaps it should be banned. Many American hunters pursue game species such as pheasant, ducks and rabbits not for any population control, but to provide recreation for those who prefer to hunt and eat game.

He has advocated that state animal cruelty laws should be applied to hunting and livestock, and further that organizations should be able to sue on behalf of animals in court.

“All of Mr. Sunstein’s views are far outside the mainstream of American opinion,” said Bud Pidgeon, USSA president and CEO. “If he was able to implement them, severe damage would be done to the sporting goods industry in general, cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, dry up funding for wildlife conservation and hurt the economies of rural towns all over the country.”

“When his views came to light during his confirmation hearing, Mr. Sunstein wrote off years of speeches, books, and academic papers he has authored by saying he would not seek to implement his views into this job,” said Pidgeon. “We remain unconvinced as his recantation of his extreme views did not come about until his nomination seemed in question.”

The Alliance has received a flood of calls, letters, and emails from sportsmen across the country who are deeply concerned about this nominee and who wanted to know their Senator’s position on the issue.

Pidgeon said that win or lose, the USSA will report to sportsmen and all citizens about how each Senator voted.

Take Action!!! It is imperative that sportsmen and all citizens who believe in American traditions contact their Senators TODAY and tell them to vote AGAINST the confirmation of Cass Sunstein to head the powerful Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Tell them he has been an advocate for the animal rights movement and is an anti-hunter, against gun ownership, and wishes to give animals the right to sue in court.

Please use the Legislative Action Center to contact your senator.