Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch sent a letter to Ken Salazar, head of the Department of Interior, asking that the Federal Government appeal Judge Donald Molloy’s ruling that placed gray wolves back under Federal protection. This is kind of like asking the Pope not to be Catholic. Here’s the text of the letter:

We write to once again express our appreciation for the Department of the Interior’s decision to delist the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in Idaho. As you know, the good work of state and federal wildlife managers, scientists and local communities made it possible for wolves to not only be recovered, but to achieve healthy populations in the northern Rockies. These levels of success were at one time considered unattainable, but our state, through close work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), showed otherwise.

We are deeply concerned, however, with a recent decision in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, to relist the wolf under the ESA for procedural reasons. This ruling entirely ignores the successful recovery of the gray wolf in Idaho, as well as our state’s strong wolf management plan, which, as you know, has been approved by the FWS and has demonstrated Idaho’s role as a responsible and effective manager of gray wolf populations within our boundaries. This was a most unfortunate decision, which will provide no certainty for states and will undermine state and local confidence in collaborative species recovery efforts.

It is vital that Idaho be permitted to manage its wildlife populations. As such, we request that the Department of the Interior vigorously appeal the District Court’s decision to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. It is imperative that the Department of the Interior put forth any and all necessary resources in order to successfully appeal and overturn the District Court’s decision.

Again, we thank you for the good efforts that you and your employees have put forth over the last several years to help find a way forward on this difficult issue. We look forward to our continued work together.

Senators Crapo and Risch feel obligated to send this letter because they fear loss of votes if they don’t. Other than that, I doubt they really care what happens to wolves in their state. Beyond that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a division of the Department of Interior, both want protection for the wolf. Nobody involved in this battle from the ruling class wants wolves delisted and hunted. It’s really that simple. That’s why wolves remain a protected species. It works well as a tool of destruction.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has never appealed any of Molloy’s wolf rulings and there is a reason for that. Don’t look for anything to change. If all goes according to plan by the Feds and the environmental groups, acting as extension arms of the Federal Government, USFWS will opt to “regroup” and come back with yet another plan for delisting, while blaming it all on Wyoming for daring to buck the system. While this is taking place, keep your eyes on the delisting process in the Western Great Lakes area and you will see similar actions and results. Nothing changes!

Once again, after years of stalling, the USFWS will ink a proposal to delist wolves, the comment period will begin and the environmentalists will line up to collect their share of Federal money from yet another round of lawsuits. We can all expect to see a repeat of the same actions that have taken place to this point.

Tom Remington

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