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What Next for Delisted Wolves?

Citing precedent, a federal judge in Montana grudgingly reverses himself on protection of wolves.

By New West Editor, 8-04-11

A wolf on the run at Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Barry O'Neill, Wikimedia Commons.

A wolf on the run at Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Barry O'Neill, Wikimedia Commons.

Yesterday’s ruling by a federal judge in Montana that upheld the delisting of wolves under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) might seem like third time unlucky for protectors of the species, but is it?

Twice previously, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy had prevented attempts to escalate the hunting of wolves in the West, but this time he cited a 9th Circuit Court precedent that he decided required him to rule against a challenge of the so-called wolf rider to a federal budget bill passed in April.

The rider, Section 1713 of HR 1473, was introduced during the spring budget debates by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.

It does not specifically mention wolves or ESA. It simply requires reinstatement of a final rule issued April 2, 2009, and stipulates that this reissuance will not be subject to judicial review. The rule in question delists wolves.

Even so, conservationists were not entirely dismayed by Judge Molloy’s decision.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kieran Suckling said to the Lewiston Tribune. Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, which was among several environmental organizations that challenged the rider, said of Molloy, “He is not only intimating the wolf rider is unconstitutional and the 9th Circuit is wrong but he is laying out a road map on how to appeal his own ruling and take it all the way to the Supreme Court.”

Molloy wrote that he would have found the rider unconstitutional if not for the court precedent, adding that he believed the manner in which the measure was enacted was disrespectful of the rule of law.

In the past, the judge blocked delisting in an order that stated all 50 states must agree to such removal of protections, rather than on a state-by-state basis. Idaho and Montana had delisted the species at that point, while Wyoming had not.

Congress retaliated to that decision with its delisting rider in the budget bill.

Nicole Rosmarino of the environmental group WildEarth Guardians told Friends of Animals, “The rider goes against a bedrock principle of our democracy: checks and balances between branches of government. Legislators can’t pick off specific court decisions they don’t like. That’s not fair for the wolf, and it’s certainly not good for our democracy.”

Conservationists are expected to appeal the decision, which could eventually go before the U.S. Supreme Court.



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