Idaho Says It Won’t Kill Wolves in the Frank Church this Winter: Yesterday, the Forest Service announced that Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) will not engage in any wolf killing in the federally-protected Frank Church-River of No Return… Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.defendersblog.org
Save the forest, the wolves, and much more.
Romeo – Alexander Archipelago wolf
The population of Alexander Archipelago wolves on Prince Wales Island/Tongass National Forest has declined 60% in 0ne year. The plan to log old growth forest on the island must be halted to save these wolves.
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From Center for Biological Diversity
For Immediate Release, June 5, 2015
SITKA, Alaska— State and federal authorities are reporting a “dramatic decline in the wolf population on Prince of Wales Island, Tongass National Forest.” A new report records a 60 percent drop in the number of Alexander Archipelago wolves in just one year, reinforcing conservationists’ arguments that plans to log old-growth forests on the island should be halted to protect the wolf and other wildlife.
An Alaska Department of Fish and Game draft report estimates a total of only 89 wolves in the area — including 60 on…
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SAV Comment:
Obviously money is more important than anything else – so they think – bugger wildlife and the beauty it brings – Kill, kill, kill – we are humans after all !! Sign the Care2 petition urging wildlife officials in Alberta and B.C. to stop the wolf slaughter today!
Source: serbiananimalsvoice.com
Kathie Lynch: “Twenty years! January 12, 2015, marks the 20-year anniversary of the return of gray wolves to their rightful place and vital role in the Northern Rockies ecosystem!On that fateful date in 1995, eight wolves from Alberta, Canada, arrived in Yellowstone National Park. They were the first gray wolves in Yellowstone since they were extirpated in 1926—an absence of 69 years.On January 19, 1995, six more wolves arrived in Yellowstone, bringing the total to 14. Also in January 1995, 15 wolves were released in central Idaho. A year later, in January 1996, 17 more wolves arrived in Yellowstone from British Columbia, Canada, and another 20 were released in central Idaho.”
Source: www.thewildlifenews.com
GR: Excellent review of this critical element in North American endangered species conservation.
This article claims that the Utah State government has been paying lobbyists. I haven’t verified the claim. State governments should not use taxpayer funds to pay lobbyists to oppose endangered species listings. Nod if you agree.
GR: Flood damage by natural streams used to be controlled by beaver dams. We removed beaver, and flood control became expensive. This story discusses other natural beaver benefits.
It’s not postcard pretty to human eyes. But it’s habitat to wildlife.
Even species as small and relatively uncharismatic as beavers produce dramatic changes in the environment, to the benefit of many species and the detriment of others. This press release caught my eye partly because of the debate over how reintroduction of wolves has changed Yellowstone National Park. It’s also of interest because the British, who seem t0 suffer from a profound fear of their native wildlife (wolves, bears, badgers), are currently debating reintroduction of beavers (with much “we shall fight in the fields and in the streets” rhetoric):
Felling trees, building dams and creating ponds — beavers alter the landscape in ways that are beneficial to other organisms, according to ecologist Carol Johnston of South Dakota State University.
“Beavers influence the environment at a rate far beyond what would be expected given their abundance,” said Johnston, who is…
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By Brooks Fahy, Executive Director, Predator Defense
“Recently one of our county’s most highly respected environmental organizations, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), proposed that wildlife advocates improve the plight of wolves in Montana by purchasing a special wolf “conservation” stamp for $20. The money raised would allegedly be used to resolve wolf conflicts nonlethally, as well as for public education, habitat improvement and procurement, and law enforcement.
“Sounds great, right?
“WRONG.
“The problem is the money will go directly to the state agency in charge of managing wolves—Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). If you’ve been following our work at Predator Defense for any length of time you’ll know that, for the state of Montana, “managing” means “killing.” It is also worth noting that the state has renamed what the NRDC calls a wolf “conservation” stamp a wolf “management” stamp.
“We believe we must speak out against the NRDC’s wolf stamp, and here’s why. The best available science tells us that territorial, apex predators like wolves do not need to be managed.
“Asking wildlife advocates to donate funds to a government wildlife management agency is an endorsement of sorts that implies that agency is deserving of and will use your donation in the best interest of wildlife, in this case wolves. Such an endorsement promotes what we would like to call “The Myth,” which is that wildlife management agencies are using current science and conservation biology, as well as ethical principles, to create responsible programs to benefit wildlife, primarily predators. The truth is they are not.”
SUBMIT A WRITTEN COMMENT OPPOSING THE WOLF STAMP
View the proposed wolf stamp rule and make your comment on the Montana FWP website at http://fwp.mt.gov/news/publicNotices/armRules/pn_0177.html
You may also submit your comments by mail, email, or fax to:
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Communication Education Division
P.O. Box 200701
Helena, MT 59620-0701
Email: fwpwld@mt.gov
Fax: 406-444-4952
Source: www.thewildlifenews.com
GR: As much as we want to trust and work with our public agencies, we have to do so with caution. Shifting political breezes often force well-intentioned agency employees to change their commitments. We must seek strong, binding agreements before beginning any cooperative ventures.
GR: My home state (Arizona), and probably all the rest, act like this. The Arizona Game and Fish Department promotes the sale of hunting licenses, The Idaho Department is encouraging a hunting derby, and Nevada’s wildlife department looks about the same. Forcing wildlife managers to support themselves with hunting license sales is not a good idea. Too tempting to place hunting and revenue ahead of protection.
Photo: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
“We have known for a long time that the administration of Scott Walker and his appointments to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources pander to the most extreme elements in our society, but a scheduled meeting between a local “patriot” group and DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp takes this to a new level. The former real estate developer turned DNR Secretary, Stepp, recently admitted to excluding pro-wildlife factions from their “Wolf Advisory Committee” in favor of extremist hunting lobbying groups. On top of that news Stepp had scheduled a “meeting” with a so-called “patriot” group known as the “Prairie Patriots.” This is how the “Prairie Patriots” describe themselves….”
Source: Our Wisconsin, Our Wildlife
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with revisions to the reintroduction program for the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi). (Photo Credit: Tracy Brooks/Mission Wolf / USFWS).
“Notwithstanding the fact that this should have been a full recovery plan, and that FWS has to divorce the highly imperiled lobos from its ill-conceived plan to delist gray wolves nationally, there are also some critical problems with the new proposal itself that conservationists will want to note.“
Source: www.thewildlifenews.com
GarryRogers Nature Conservation 