Judge Stops Public Wolf Hunt in the West
Preliminary Injunction Returns Them to Endangered Species Status
Jul 21, 2008
No creature is more controversial than the wolf. Some see it as a wanton predator of livestock, game species, and possibly children. Others see it as the epitome of the North American wilderness. In the West, a long-raging conflict over the wolf has been going on for over a decade, when wolves were reintroduced from Yellowstone and the first packs of Canadian wolves began trickling south into the Rocky Mountain states. The conflict divides those who argue that the wolf is essential to the ecosystem, and those who see the wolf as another big government expenditure, which, like a tax, eats into the profits of cattlemen, sheep ranchers, and outfitters. On Friday, those who want the wolf protected won a major victory, but this victory can be overturned pending the court’s decision.
The Delisting
In February, the Fish and Wildlife Service removed the gray wolves of the Northern Rockies from Endangered Species Protection status. This move took the gray wolf of the Northern Rockies off the Endangered Species List. The states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming would be allowed to have open wolf seasons in their states in much the same way those states currently have open cougar and black bear seasons. However, several environmental organizations, such as the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife, argued that the decision did not meet the requirements for a delisting, which stipulate that the animal populations reach a sustainable level before being removed from the list.
These organizations argue that the number of wolves is too low to maintain genetic diversity within the population. Only about 1,500 to 2,000 wolves live in the three states, and it has been argued that wolf populations need to be somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 in order to withstand that level of hunting.
The Lawsuit
Eleven conservation organizations, including Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club, sued the Department of the Interior. The Fish and Wildlife Service operates out of the Department of the Interior, so this was the agency that the organizations sued under the Endangered Species Act, using the arguments already discussed. The National Rifle Association, the states of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, and various livestock and sport hunting organizations intervened on behalf of the federal government. Their arguments point out that the states already have come up with a sustainable harvest of wolves in the Northern Rockies. Wyoming has dropped its state law that considers wolves vermin, leaving them open to unregulated hunting. None of these organizations want the wolf extirpated. They argue that they merely want to regulate the wolf populations in those three states.
The Preliminary Injunction
Because all three states have planned wolf hunts for the autumn of 2008, Federal District Judge Donald W. Malloy of Montana issued a preliminary injunction that has blocked the removal of the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies from the Endangered Species Act. The injunction is a temporary move that could be reversed pending the outcome of the lawsuit. However, Judge Malloy’s decision has very strong language questioning the removal of wolves from the list, which might be a good thing for those opposing the wolf hunt.
However this lawsuit is finally settled, the debate will continue to linger about the wolf’s place in North America. Some argue that the extirpation of the large canid from much of North America has been a great progress in civilizing a once wild continent. This sentiment is shared by many of those who live and work in the areas where the wolves now live. Another sentiment sees the wolf as an intelligent animal with strong family ties. The wolf is the wild version of Lassie. This sentiment is held by many people who live in the sea of concrete we call cities and only on rare occasions see anything of the natural world. These two views tear at each other in the West, and this debate will continue for many decades.
