Commentary
New U.S. Parks Chief Puts Gloves On, Might Need Them
A massive job awaits Jonathan Jarvis, the man who became chief of national parks this month, according to a fine feature story by Todd Wilkinson (which was published today in the Flathead Beacon).
The new park service director, a 32-year veteran of the National Park Service, kicked off his new job by visiting the home of conservationist John Muir and taking his family to Yosemite National Park, Wilkinson writes. If Jarvis got some extra energy from the trips, that’s good, the story notes. Because he’ll need it.
We're Winners
Montana, Wyoming Lodges Take Guide’s Top Honors
Away.com, a leading website for travel planning, has listed a Montana and a Wyoming destination on its latest list of top resorts. The “Best Resorts & Lodges Guide,” as described by the Away.com press release, offers “in-depth profiles of 200 of the world’s best destination resorts across ten popular travel categories,” chosen by a team of travel experts. And the experts liked what they saw out West.
Green Light for Wolf Hunts
Wolf Hunts Will Go On; Judge Denies Injunction Bid
The Montana and Idaho wolf hunts will not irreparably harm wolf populations and may proceed, according to a ruling filed last night by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy.
Molloy on Aug. 31 heard arguments from environmental groups seeking to halt the fall wolf hunts—the first of their kind in the lower 48—on the grounds that the killings would irreparably harm the species, which was on the Endangered Species List until just this spring. The coalition of 13 environmental groups, which has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in an attempt to restore federal protections for the gray wolf, asked Molloy to issue an injunction to stop the hunts, arguing that killing even a single wolf is a problem.
In a 14-page ruling, Molloy disagreed, and said the “low threshold” for irreparable harm—a single wolf death—was not supported by the law.
Canis of Wormis
Wolves Shot, Boycotts Called, Fur Flies
Game officials and wolf hunt fans often say the same thing when it comes to the wolf hunt in Idaho and the upcoming one in Montana. Don’t worry, they say. Wolves are fast, nocturnal and darn hard to draw a bead on.
The question of just how tough they are to shoot even came up in federal court, where U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy on Monday heard a plea by environmental groups for an injunction to stop the wolf hunt seasons.
“Isn’t there evidence ... that with fair-chase hunting, not many wolves will be killed?” Molloy asked.
Yes, that’s right, as Steven Strack, attorney for the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, explained during the hearing. “There are nine million acres of wilderness areas in Idaho,” Strack said. It’s hard to even spot a wolf without using a helicopter, traps, baits or motor vehicles like ATVs (which are not legally allowed in the hunts), he noted.
The news from Idaho this week seemed to, well, blow a hole in that theory.
Wolf Hunt Injunction
Wolf-Hunt-Ready States and Wolf Advocates Face Off in Court
U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy heard arguments in Missoula today from environmentalists seeking to restore federal protections to wolves and stop wolf hunts –- and from states that want to shoot them.
The hearing in federal district court stemmed from an emergency request by conservation groups to halt the wolf hunts scheduled to start tomorrow in Idaho and on Sept. 15 in Montana. Represented by Bozeman-based Earthjustice, the coalition of 13 groups claims the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) violated the law this May when it delisted wolves and stripped them of Endangered Species Act protections in Montana and Idaho, setting the hunts in motion.
“The hunts would allow the intentional killing of 330 wolves, and that is an irreparable injury under the Endangered Species Act,” Earthjustice attorney Douglas Honnold told the court.
The Wolf Hunt Frontlines
Three Views of the Wolf Wars: A Hunter, Advocate, and Game Official Speak Out
Twenty five miles upriver from St. Maries in the town of Calder, John Walters eats a burger in the cafe. On his table by the window newspapers are opened to pages with wolf pictures. A recent ruling by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission that establishes the latest attempt at a hunting season for gray wolves in Idaho is the top story.
Walters, one of the directors of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition, planned to be first in line to buy a hunting tag when they went on sale Monday for $11.25 per resident. He called his attorney a few days before an injunction was filed Aug. 20 by Earthjustice to stop the hunt. Thirteen groups were named in the suit.
He asked his attorney whether he could sue Fish and Game for fraud if the heavily advertised wolf hunting season didn’t transpire. “He said no, because an injunction hasn’t been filed yet to close the season,” says Walters, between bites of his burger.
Walters has been fighting for years for the right to kill wolves or sue the federal government for what he calls an illegal introduction of wolves into the state. A barrel of a man with long hair going gray, he’s a former construction worker who was injured on the job and now collects disability.
The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho native moved to the St. Joe Country in 1983 after years of advocating for the Fish and Game department that he is now at odds with. The agency, in Walters’ opinion, has turned tail on the hunting public—people who buy hunting licenses and who expect Fish and Game to manage the herds so hunters can bag bulls and bucks.
Dave Skinner said: "Jarvis sounds like the wet-dream candidate for the preservationist (as opposed to conservationist) wing of the Park Service. Surprised his BROTHER didn't get the nod,…