Wolves in the News
September 9, 2009: Federal judge says wolf hunts OK in Idaho, Montana
With four gray wolves already shot in Idaho, a federal judge in Montana has cleared the way for legal hunting of the once-endangered predators to proceed in Idaho and Montana.
U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy found there would be no irreparable harm if the hunt goes forward, though he warned that a coalition of conservation groups represented by Earthjustice have a good chance of prevailing later on their argument that it was wrong to remove endangered species protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana, but not in Wyoming.
In continuing to list Wyoming wolves under the Endangered Species Act, "the [Fish and Wildlife] Service has distinguished a natural population of wolves based on a political line, not the best available science," the judge wrote of the Obama administration's new regulations for wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies.
"That, by definition, seems arbitrary and capricious," he said...
...Updated at 2:56 p.m.: An Eagle, Idaho, man was cited for poaching Tuesday when he shot a wolf on a public road from the back of his pickup truck in an area not open for wolf hunting. The man told officers he thought he was in a legal zone until he later checked a map.
The wolf was a small female, still a pup, according to the fish and game department. Officers, who have not filed charges pending an investigation, seized the wolf hide and skull, a camera, rifle and hunting tag.
U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy found there would be no irreparable harm if the hunt goes forward, though he warned that a coalition of conservation groups represented by Earthjustice have a good chance of prevailing later on their argument that it was wrong to remove endangered species protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana, but not in Wyoming.
In continuing to list Wyoming wolves under the Endangered Species Act, "the [Fish and Wildlife] Service has distinguished a natural population of wolves based on a political line, not the best available science," the judge wrote of the Obama administration's new regulations for wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies.
"That, by definition, seems arbitrary and capricious," he said...
...Updated at 2:56 p.m.: An Eagle, Idaho, man was cited for poaching Tuesday when he shot a wolf on a public road from the back of his pickup truck in an area not open for wolf hunting. The man told officers he thought he was in a legal zone until he later checked a map.
The wolf was a small female, still a pup, according to the fish and game department. Officers, who have not filed charges pending an investigation, seized the wolf hide and skull, a camera, rifle and hunting tag.
facebook