Wildlife
book review
A Perspective on the Russian Experience with Wolves
In 1965 an American working for the National Security Agency as a Russian linguist picked up a copy of Farley Mowat’s Never Cry Wolf. Instead of a new found appreciation for the contentious canids, as Mowat’s book generated for so many of his generation, Will Graves found the book didn’t mesh with what he knew from 14 years of reading about wolves in Russia.
“His book is fiction,” Graves said Thursday over coffee in Missoula, taking particular aim at Mowat’s claim that in the far north rodents and small game comprise substantial parts of a wolf’s diet.
Alarmed by not just Mowat’s book, but what Graves perceived to be a trend of often inaccurate and misleading pro-wolf Western literature, Graves decided to set the record straight with a book of his own. Over the next 42 years, he meticulously clipped Russian-language news reports, translated popular and scientific articles, joined preeminent Russian biologists at international conferences on wolves, and traveled and talked with Russian biologists, game managers and hunters about the Russian experience with wolves.
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relisted
Wolf Protections Restored in Northern Rockies, Hunting Halted
A federal judge in Missoula ordered today that gray wolves in the Northern Rockies be returned to the endangered species list, effectively halting planned fall wolf hunts in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy granted the preliminary injunction to reinstate Endangered Species Act protections for the northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf, as requested by the twelve conservation organizations that filed suit in April to reverse the delisting.
"It's an incredibly important first step," said Suzanne Asha Stone of Defenders of Wildlife, one of the plaintiffs. "It's literally the difference between life and death for hundreds of wolves in the region."
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guest commentary
Severely Burned Forests: One of Nature’s Best-Kept Secrets
As summer wildfire season begins in earnest throughout much of the West, it's important for the public and policymakers to recognize the important role that severely burned forests play in maintaining wildlife populations and healthy forests. Severely burned forests are neither "destroyed" nor "lifeless."
From my perspective as an ecologist, I have become aware of one of nature's best-kept secrets -- there are some plant and animal species that one is hard-pressed to see anywhere outside a severely burned forest.
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From The New West Blog
Bush Administration Fights Wolf Kill Compensation
The Bush administration is objecting to legislation that would ask the federal government to help compensate livestock owners whose animals are killed by wolves, the AP reports.
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana and Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming sponsored the bill.
"I think it's terrible," said Tester, who chastised the Interior Department for not sending someone more senior to the hearing. "It's the right thing to do, and for the department to wash its hands of it and say, 'No, it's a state problem now,' is absolutely ridiculous."
Click here for more.
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From The New West Blog
Feds Lift Preble’s Mouse Protections in Wyoming
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced the removal of Endangered Species Act protection for the Preble's meadow jumping in Wyoming. It amended the listing to indicate that Colorado's population remains threatened.
“This action will allow us to more precisely focus the protections of the Act specifically where these protections are needed,” said Steve Guertin, the Service’s Regional Director for the Mountain-Prairie Region. “The Service will continue to work with all of our partners to implement conservation actions that will benefit the mouse and help us achieve healthy populations across its entire range.”
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VOTE FOR HUNTING AND WILDLIFE, NOT THE NRA
Hunters, Look Beyond the End of Your Gun Barrel
Has anybody heard that we have a big election coming up? And that in the wake of the historic Scalia opinion in the D.C. v. Heller case, gun rights might be a big issue in the campaign, especially in key western "swing states" such as Colorado, Montana and New Mexico?
Republicans obviously believe they can win these and other western states on the gun issue alone. But I think most hunters can see beyond the end of their gun barrels.
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Stockgrowers Respond to Brucellosis Status
Guest Opinion: Split-State Status Wrong For Montana’s Cattle IndustryIn light of Montana’s recent loss of brucellosis Class Free status, the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) would like to reiterate its opposition to split-state status as means for managing brucellosis in Montana.
Aside from our practical concerns about the implementation, maintenance and enforcement of two classification areas in MT, philosophically, we do not support geographically isolating ranchers according to problems they experience. We believe that the industry’s integrity and future depends on uniting producers against common threats.
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From The New West Blog
Governors Push Wildlife Protection InitiativeThe annual Western Governor's Association meeting kicked off in Jackson Hole Sunday, with the initial discussions focussed on how to protect wildlife amidst the oil-and-gas drilling boom. The Denver Post reports that the governors created a Western Wildlife Council to work on habitat and wildlife corridor issues. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and NBC News celebrity Tom Brokaw addressed the group Sunday, along with several energy industry executives. The meeting of governors form 19 states continues Monday and Tuesday.
Western Nature Writers
An Interview with David M. Armstrong
David M. Armstrong is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado and the author of several books, including the recently published third edition of Rocky Mountain Mammals (University of Colorado Press, $19.95), a guide to the mammals of this region and those in Rocky Mountain National Park in particular. Packed with photos and facts, the book is worth its weight to lug on a backpacking trip. I recently interviewed Professor Armstrong via email about the best way to spot mammals in the wild, the projected fate of the pika, changes he's observed in Rocky Mountain National Park, the dearth of Bigfoot sightings there, and how we should "honor [our] cousin," the montane vole.
New West: Have you noticed any changes in Rocky Mountain National Park over the years?
David M. Armstrong: The fauna of any place is a dynamic phenomenon, a “work-in-progress,” and changes are sometimes subtle. Obvious changes in recent decades have been the substantial increase in the number of elk in the National Park and vicinity, ups and downs in numbers (hence visibility) of bighorn sheep and beaver, the increase in the number of black bears in recent years, the establishment of moose in the National Park (from introduced population in North Park).
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COMMENTS WORTH REPEATING
Guns and the Most Controversial Nonprofit of Them All
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. What is the Most Controversial Nonprofit Organization of Them All?
Can we agree that it is the National Rifle Association?
Fervently supported by millions of gun owners, but bitterly criticized by its detractors, including many hunters who feel the gun group elects anti-hunting politicians who vote consistently against the protecting wildlife habitat. Critics think the NRA stands for Not Really an Ally or National Republican Army.
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