So far it appears Wyoming, the black sheep of the Northern Rocky Mountain states that had wolves dumped in their front yard, is the only state with some spine. And all they managed to do was stick to their wolf management plan that they believed to be legal. Court rulings have since agreed with Wyoming’s position.

From the rest of the chihuahuas in Idaho and Montana, citizens are hearing yelps and even loud yaps, followed quickly by whimpering and running back into their dog houses. Montana’s governor Brian Schweitzer appears to be the latest to bare his teeth only to find out they weren’t very big.

Shortly after being notified that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is considering Montana’s request to kill more wolves to save elk, deer and moose under the enhanced 10(j) provision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Gov. Schweitzer sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar informing him that on behalf of the State of Montana, he was prepared to break the law. This action became a rallying cry for the masses affected by wolf depredation.

Schweitzer told Salazar that any ranchers who harass or kill wolves threatening livestock in areas north of Interstate 90 (this is a region outside the nonessential experimental 10(j) zones and subject to the strict guidelines of the ESA.) would not be prosecuted by Montana game wardens. This is similar to the threat Idaho’s Governor Butch Otter made to the Sec. not that long ago.

In addition, the governor declared that he would have his Fish, Wildlife and Parks personnel take out complete packs of wolves that are bothering ranchers’ livestock and in areas where wolves are destroying herds of elk, deer and moose, he would order his people to do the same.

I would suppose, that believing the Governor had come to the end of his rope in trying to deal with the feds, the Montana House voted 61-39 to nullify the Endangered Species Act as it pertains to Montana. Governor Schweitzer wants nothing to do with that and threatened to veto such a bill if it ever made it to his desk.

While nullification or attempts at such certainly is not breaking the law, I find it curious that the Montana governor seemed more than eager to break the law or perhaps have his citizens break the law in an attempt to flex muscle toward the Department of Interior and yet runs for the hills when his own House is interested in further flexing muscle with a threat of nullification.

In its origins, nullification was a good thing in order to keep any Federal Congress on task to remain within the boundaries of the United States Constitution. Many like to invoke Thomas Jefferson’s writings about nullification as it pertained to the Alien and Sedition Acts when John Adams was president. Perhaps the most powerful and effective use of nullification was when South Carolina threatened President Lincoln with succession due to what they believed to be unconstitutional federal tariffs. The Ordinance of Nullification forced the hand of Abe Lincoln, who knew that if South Carolina won this battle, the rest of the South would follow, effectively dissolving the Union.

Whether nullification or the threat thereof in Montana would force anybody’s hand would remain to be seen. The point I’m making here is that, in my opinion, it is not breaking the law to proceed with a state ordinance of nullification.

Governor Schweitzer initially seemed quite eager to encourage his own people to break the law and he would support it but fears nullification. I wonder why? He claims it has to do with preserving the ESA but I doubt that very seriously, except in following the party line.

After the governor’s letter to Sec. Salazar became public and the attention it got, Schweitzer has done a considerable amount of back-peddling to explain himself and stating that he would not do anything outside of the law or his authority as governor.

“We are still part of the United States of America. Just because we don’t agree with one part of the federal law does not mean we continue to go our own way,”

Talk about giving off mixed messages. I think Governor Schweitzer’s letter to Sec. Salazar is a bit more than political posturing. He told the secretary what he was prepared to do. Then he withdraws everything he said and after rallying the troops, takes their ammunition to fight a battle away. This is very poor leadership at a time when it is needed most.

This is a series of bad leadership decisions that have done absolutely nothing to resolve the wolf wars. Maybe the notion of nullification became annulled in the governor’s mind when he realized his Federal cash cow might dry up were nullification successful.

Money talks and……………what is it that walks?

Tom Remington

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