With Montana’s general rifle hunting season set to begin Saturday, three environmental groups asked the court for the injunction Monday.

The court said it will consider the group’s motion for an injunction when oral arguments on a pending appeal are made Nov. 8.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians are challenging a congressional rider passed last spring that delisted the gray wolf and prohibited further court challenges.

The delisting action was upheld in U.S. District Court and the groups appealed to the 9th Circuit.

Montana and Idaho authorized wolf hunts this fall.

In Montana, bow and backcountry hunters have killed 11 wolves so far. The state’s quota is set at 220. Idaho hunters have killed 60 wolves since that state’s season opened Aug. 30.

Montana’s big-game wolf hunt begins Saturday.

To date, about 12,300 hunters have purchased wolf licenses in Montana. During the first legal wolf hunting season in 2009, the state sold a total of 15,600 licenses.

FWP Bureau Chief Ron Aasheim said the state was pleased with the decision of the 9th Circuit, allowing the wolf hunt to continue.

Aasheim said sportsmen hoping to hunt wolves must wait five days after buying a license to do so. That rule is in place to keep hunters without a license from shooting a wolf and then buying a license afterward.

***

Michael Garrity of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies said he was disappointed with the court’s decision to allow the hunt to continue for another three weeks.

“It is a big case,” Garrity said. “I understand the court being cautious and not wanting to rule until they hear all the evidence at the oral arguments.”

Garrity said his organization was “cautiously optimistic” about the final outcome of the appeal.

Wolf advocates contend the congressional rider delisting wolves was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers. They say Congress cannot tell the court system which issues it can examine.

Rocky Mountain gray wolves were first listed in 1972. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared wolf populations in Montana and Idaho recovered in 2009. Management was turned over to the states that year and the first wolf hunts were held.

A coalition of wolf advocate groups sued over the delisting decision. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy ruled in their favor in 2010 and returned wolves to federal management.

The 2011 congressional rider reinstated the FWS delisting rule.

In its arguments, the state of Montana said Congress acted within its purview because the rider amended the Endangered Species Act by requiring the Interior secretary to reissue a rule removing the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf from the list of threatened species.

“The mandated amendment to the rule listing endangered species was an exercise of the authority of Congress to legislate by statute or by an amendment of an agency rule,” the state said.

Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association president Tony Jones was pleased with the court’s decision Tuesday.

“It’s great news,” Jones said. “It means the hunt can go on and we can go about managing wolves like we manage other big-game animals. Maybe we can get back on track to getting their numbers back to manageable levels.”

It’s great to see decisions like this happen. We must continue hunting wolves and bringing down their numbers. – Hunters Against PETA

The group is “Animal Legal Defense Fund”. They already have 100,000 members and they’re growing like the black plague.

“Someday soon, U.S. courts will finally accept the evidence of science and common sense — and admit that animals are sentient individuals deserving of true, legal protection. Until then, ALDF continues to fight each day, winning the case against cruelty”.

“For more than three decades, the Animal Legal Defense Fund has been fighting to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. Founded in 1979 by attorneys active in shaping the emerging field of animal law, ALDF has blazed the trail for stronger enforcement of anti-cruelty laws and more humane treatment of animals in every corner of American life. Today, ALDF’s groundbreaking efforts to push the U.S. legal system to end the suffering of abused animals are supported by hundreds of dedicated attorneys and more than 100,000 members. Every day, ALDF works to protect animals by:

1. Filing groundbreaking lawsuits to stop animal abuse and expand the boundaries of animal law.
2. Providing free legal assistance to prosecutors handling cruelty cases.
3. Working to strengthen state anti-cruelty statutes.
4. Encouraging the federal government to enforce existing animal protection laws.
5. Nurturing the future of animal law through Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapters and our Animal Law Program.
6. Providing public education through seminars, workshops and other outreach efforts.”

This group is a very serious threat and shouldn’t be ignored. We will keep them in our sights. Of course we condone animal torture/cruelty. What sane human doesn’t? But we know the true agenda of this group. If this group ever wins and animals have the same legal rights as humans there will no more hunting or even eating meat for that matter. – Hunters Against PETA

Idaho Fish and Game is gathering public opinion on its proposed wolf seasons that would use hunting and trapping to reduce the population to a level that is sustainable, meets federal recovery goals and reduces conflict levels statewide.

The proposal and the survey questions are available on the Fish and Game website at:
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/hunt/wolf/proposals.cfm

Fish and Game will survey 1,000 randomly selected hunters and 2,000 members of the public about the proposed wolf season. For anyone else interested, but not included in the survey, the questions will be posted on the website along with a place to offer comments. The results will be presented to the Idaho Fish and Game Commission at the July 27 and 28 meeting in Salmon.

The comment deadline is July 24. Written comments may also be sent to: Wolf Comments, Idaho Fish and Game, P.O. Box 25, Boise ID 83707.

Tom Keegan
IDFG Salmon Region Wildlife Manager”

We came across this post in a hunting forum and it is definitely worth posting up on here, please give your input. – Hunters Against PETA

Folks,

I am writing with a very important development in Congress on the wolf front. New Wolf language has been added to the pending House Appropriations bill. This language specifically is intended to address delisting decision in relation to Wyoming, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. It again fails to address Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. I will provide some more details below, but first the text of the budget rider:

Sec. 119. Hereafter, any final rule published by the Department of the Interior that provides that the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in the State of Wyoming or in any of the States within the range of the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment of the gray wolf (as defined in the rule published on May 5, 2011 (76. Fed. Reg. 26086 et seq.)) is not an endangered species or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), including any rule to remove such species in such a State from the list of endangered species or threatened species published under that Act, shall not be subject to judicial review if such State has entered into an agreement with the Secretary of the Interior that authorizes the State to manage gray wolves in that State.

Unlike the earlier appropriations bill, this bill does not provide for delisting by itself, but instead requires “a final rule published by the Department of the Interior.” Given the apparent progress on Midwestern delisting and also progress on negotiations between UFWS and Wyoming, some feel that expanded delisting under this language could come very soon.

The drawback is that the bill also likely has the effect of increasing the authority of USFWS by giving their final rule the full weight of law. This should be a serious concern to all of us. It is time to return more authority to the states rather than giving more authority to the federal government. The bill also fails to address the possibility that judge Molloy may once again shut down the hunts in Idaho and Montana. In other words, there is plenty of room for improvement on the new language.

The good news is that many members of Congress continue to push for wolf delisting in Congress. Once again it appears that efforts are being made to expand delisting, but concerns remain whether this incremental approach needs to be improved. The era of federal control over wolf populations is coming to an end. It is time to acknowledge that fact and return full power to the states. We encourage members of Congress to consider improving on this wolf language in committee. The bill will be in committee very soon.

We strongly urge that it is far past time to fulfill the promises to return the power to the states to manage and protect wildlife within their states.

–
Ryan Benson

http://biggameforever.org/

ryandbenson@msn.com

We’re launching a campaign to educate not only the public but especially our youth on how great and beneficial hunting is.

PETA, the HSUS and the Defenders of Wildlife have been targeting our youth for the last decade teaching them their beliefs, telling them that hunting is wrong, fishing is wrong and eating animals is wrong.

It’s up to us sportsmen to educate them correctly and to let people know the truth about hunting.

We want videos of you and your kids telling everyone why hunting is great and beneficial to our society and to our wildlife. Also tell us some of your great memories and experiences you’ve had hunting with your father, family members or friends.

Send us your videos to: admin@huntersagainstpeta.com

See Pictures and Article of Slaughtered Prized Horse

Big Game Forever Announces Court Action to Defend Wolf Delisting

Missoula, Montana – Big Game Forever (BGF) announced it has filed a motion in federal court to defend the recent Congressional Action to remove wolves from the Endangered Species List. The joint motion filed by attorneys for Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Wild Sheep Foundation, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (SFW), Montana SFW, Idaho SFW, Arizona SFW and Big Game Forever is in response to challenges to the constitutionality of the recent congressional action to allow for wolf management in Idaho and Montana.

With recovery of wolf populations, procedural impediments have been consistently applied in an attempt to prevent state management of wolves. “It is time for state wildlife agencies to be able to manage wolves, along with other species, in balance and with responsibility,” explains Roger Blackner of Idaho SFW. “Montanans strongly feel that a return to common sense conservation is the best way to protect the future of all wildlife species,” indicates Bill Merrill of Montana SFW. “Unmanaged wolves behave differently from managed wolves,” suggests Byron Bateman of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife. Bateman continues, “recent attacks on horses, dogs and other livestock on people’s property show how important it is to begin to address the unnecessary damage to wildlife and livestock resources by unmanaged wolf populations.”

The two most recent lawsuits filed by several anti-delisting organizations challenge the constitutionality of recent congressional delisting decisions. “Overruling the clear intent of Congress places the courts in an untenable position that can only be remedied by more comprehensive Congressional action,” explains Ryan Benson from Big Game Forever. Benson continues, “repeated lawsuits to indefinitely prevent needed management of a recovered species creates unintended consequences that ultimately are not good for species that remain endangered.” While Congress continues to explore additional delisting actions, Big Game Forever will continue to work with the other partner groups to support the right of states to take the primary role in managing and protecting increasingly problematic wolf populations in the states of the West and Midwest.

Ryan Benson

Big Game Forever

“I just spent a great day with Colorado and Wyoming wildlife biologists, scientists, game wardens and other dedicated conservationists. As their invited guest speaker at an annual event in Fort Collins, Colo., they asked me to address the critical issue of how we can recruit new hunters and trappers into this glorious outdoor lifestyle.

Where oh where does one begin?

We all know how the urbanization of America erupted with the industrial revolution in the late 19th century and early 20th century, transforming our society from a rural farming economy—where most people were connected to the land—to an urban economy where the people left the land. However, though the social landscape of America was fundamentally changed, the natural hunting lifestyle remained valid and universally endorsed well into the 1960s.

Then something very sinister began to metastasize across the land that delved into the realm of the absurd. The increasing disconnect from nature created a growing cult of denial; people weren’t just removed from the land, many also became spiritually castrated from the role of stewardship. In 1975 this misguided view of nature voiced its lies in a CBS television special titled “The Guns of Autumn.” This program was a graphic, hateful, anti-nature and anti-hunting propaganda smear. Every emotional, dishonest, knee-jerk anti-hunting view imaginable flashed across the television screen for an hour. Such is how they successfully painted a picture of slob hunters wantonly slaughtering innocent, sad-eyed creatures in the bloodstained snow.

Brain-dead, doped-up hippies who wouldn’t know a moose from a platypus and other such misanthropes, who were dedicated to saving Bambi and other baby cartoon animals everywhere, were spurred to action. The scourge called the “animal-rights” activist was born.

Meanwhile, hunters just kept hunting. But with the blitzkrieg of anti-hunting propaganda appearing with increasing regularity in and on every form of media, hunting began to get a bad name. Dopey academia and the media elite were also intentionally making hunters out to be bad guys; as a result, the non-hunting public was starting to be tainted by this intensely orchestrated lie.

All that was bad and ugly enough, but the real horror of horrors was the fact that the hunting industry and hunters in general—busy celebrating the unprecedented successes of game management and the flourishing big- and small-game hunting opportunities everywhere—were sound asleep to this new and unbelievable culture war.

Our children were bombarded with nasty anti-hunting insanity in school and literally everywhere. While dads were living the hunting dream, little Johnny and Susie were being bludgeoned with anti-hunting lies on a daily basis, causing them to question, even turn on, their family’s values.
Many of our children were fortified with the truth about hunting, nature and wildlife from us, but slowly and surely, the repetitious falsehoods overwhelmed the less than dedicated hunting families, and an entire generation was more likely to side with “animal-rights” maniacs than with their family hunting traditions.

Add to this bizarre propaganda machine the fact that game departments in many states were being increasingly strangled by politically correct bureaucrats who were siding more and more with anti-hunters than with the people who actually paid their salaries, and the perfect storm was brewing for bad, even dangerous management decisions.

Wolves, coyotes, bears, cougars and other predators were off limits to sensible management even after they’d recovered. Illogical, nonsensical, arbitrary and capricious hunting regulations were filling the pages of game laws and hunters were being harassed and confused at an alarming rate, thereby discouraging people from participating in their once-beloved sport.

Meanwhile, some hunting publications and so-called leaders were actually preaching that hunters should deny their hunting heritage, not wear camo or NRA hats in public, not talk about hunting and guns and basically turn tail and run like soulless liberals faced with a challenge.

What I told the gathering was simple: Stand up for what you believe. Never hide your hunting pride. Wear camo and NRA hats everywhere you go. Never defend anything, but rather promote and celebrate this perfect hands-on conservation lifestyle everywhere you go. Initiate the pro-hunting, pro-gun dialog relentlessly. Share stories and photos of family hunting adventures and of dead game. Rave about the purest, healthiest diet available to mankind: venison!

Show that beautiful deer in your truck and hang that deer in your yard for all to see. Testify at every wildlife meeting you possibly can. Give away NRA memberships to everyone in your life. Write that letter to the editor in your hometown newspaper gushing about the wonderment of taking your kids hunting so we don’t have to hunt for our kids.

Call in on the local talk radio show and rave about the joys of the natural hunting lifestyle. Invite all your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors to join you at the range and at a wild-game dinner. Take someone new hunting and shooting every chance you get.

Lobby elected officials to rid our game laws of foolish regulations that serve no beneficial purpose other than to harass us and complicate our time afield. Never accept the status quo. Make people think and demand honest answers. Never say never and never give up.

Never allow the government to hire so called “sharpshooters” to kill our game in places where we are not allowed to hunt, using methods we are not allowed to employ.

Never allow a bureaucrat to turn wildlife assets into wildlife liabilities. Demand that the wolf is taken off the endangered species list immediately. They are not endangered anymore; they are overpopulated.

Do not sit back and watch. Charge forth and take control. We the people are supposed to be the boss—the government works for us. This Father’s Day take your son, daughter and even parents out shooting. Invite your neighbors or your children’s friends. Live and save the outdoor lifestyle. The natural world is better off when we take part in it.”

Ted Nugent is the man when it comes to defending our hunting rights and gun rights. It’s always a pleasure to hear what Ted has to say, he tells it exactly like it is. The straightest shooter you’ll ever meet. You’ll always have our full support Ted. – Hunters Against PETA

Folks,

A very important piece of legislation was filed today in the United States Congress, the Government Litigation Savings Act (GLSA). The bill is aimed to stop abusive litigation practices and diversion of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to anti-sportsmen groups. The bill does not stop private groups from suing to enforce federal law. Instead, the bill limits the number and amount of reimbursements that groups can receive from taxpayers for suing the government. As many of you are aware, the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) requires taxpayers to reimburse the litigation costs to plaintiffs in environmental lawsuits. It has become so easy to satisfy the EAJA requirements, that reimbursement are almost automatic in most of these cases.

Big Game Forever supports the Government Litigation Savings Act as yet another example of common sense pro-sportsmen legislation. Some preliminary research indicates that many of these cases are “won” on technicalities that have little to do with recovery of endangered wildlife species. As a result, it has become easy for anti-sportsmen groups to force an anti-sportsmen agenda at the government’s expense. Just as important, this bill could save tens of millions in unnecessary government spending. The press release below from Senator Barrasso and Senator Hatch explains the bill in greater detail.

Big Game Forever has been asked to support the legislation by a number of members of Congress. We feel this bill is a step in the right direction in restoring some common sense in wildlife management. If you are a constituent of Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Senators Barrasso (R-WY), Hatch (R-Utah), John Thune (R-S.D.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Representatives Rob Bishop (R-UT), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Mike Coffman (R-CO), Mike Conaway (R-TX), Jeff Denham (R-CA), John Duncan (R-TN), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Wally Herger (R-CA), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Kristi Noem (R-SD), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Steve Pearce (R-NM), Denny Rehberg (R-MT), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Scott Tipton (R-CO), Don Young (R-AK) please let them know you are grateful for their proactive support of sportsmen.

Ryan Benson

http://biggameforever.org/

ryandbenson@msn.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Mark Eddington, (801) 375-7881
Heather Barney, (801) 524-4380

May 25, 2011

Barrasso, Hatch Introduce Bill to Curb Environmental Extremists’ Excessive Lawsuits against Federal Government, Taxpayers

WASHINGTON – Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and other members of the Senate Western Caucus today introduced a bill aimed at clamping down on the excessive lawsuits being filed by environmental extremists against the federal government that are costing U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars.
The Government Litigation Savings Act (GLSA) would reform the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), which environmental extremist groups are systematically abusing to halt the work of land management and other federal agencies to use taxpayer money to fund their nonstop litigation and further their own narrow political agenda.

“These environmental groups have sued the federal government more than 1,200 times and collected more than $35 million from taxpayers. That has got to stop,” Hatch said. “Our nation must not allow and cannot afford to let extremists hijack our laws and hold the American people hostage to their radical views. This legislation will help put a stop to the abuses of these deep-pocketed environmental groups, bring greater reporting and accountability to the process and lessen taxpayers’ burden to pay for the attorney fees incurred by these lawsuits.”

As adopted by Congress in 1980, the EAJA was aimed at removing a barrier to justice by helping individuals, small businesses and nonprofit organizations recoup the money and other resources they spent in suing the federal government. For the past 15 years, Hatch noted, Congress and federal agencies have stopped tracking and reporting payments paid through the law, meaning there has been almost no accountability and oversight. As a result, the law has been subverted by a cadre of environmental groups to create a cottage industry of taxpayer-funded litigation.
If passed, the GLSA would change that by:

Requiring EAJA filers must show a “direct and personal monetary interest” in the action;

Removing the $7 million net worth eligibility exemptions granted to nonprofits organizations and Agriculture Cooperatives;

Establishing a cap of $175 per hour for attorney’s fees, pegged to inflation; all additional multipliers are removed;

Requiring an agency to disallow EAJA reimbursements if the claimant unreasonably protracted the proceedings or acted in bad faith;

Capping total EAJA reimbursements to $200,000 for any single action, and allowing no more than 3 EAJA awards in a calendar year;

Establishing reporting requirements government-wide, and consolidating reporting into the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS); the report must include an explanation from the agency explaining why its position was not substantially justified;

Establishing an online, searchable database for funds paid out of EAJA and requiring that funds paid from EAJA in sealed settlement agreements must be included in the online report;

Requiring judges to disallow EAJA payments if the claimant unreasonably protracted the final resolution of the matter in controversy, or acted or in bad faith;

Requiring that as part of the annual report of payments under EAJA, the Attorney General must also make available to information about payments made from the Judgment Fund;

Ad Requiring the GAO to conduct an audit of EAJA payments over the past 15 years.

In addition to Hatch, co-sponsors include Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.). Members of the House Western Caucus have introduced a companion bill in the House.

Folks, things are getting interesting again. It appears that Judge Molloy may be signaling that he is ready to shut down the wolf hunts again in Idaho and Montana. As many of you are aware, a new lawsuit was recently filed challenging the recent Congressional action. Today a new case management order in the lawsuit is turning heads.

Why this action is a concern?
Typically, Congressional action will survive judicial challenge, especially where Congress is modifying an existing Congressional statute. However, the specifically tailored language of the Tester/Simpson language is subject to a fairly narrowly defined constitutional challenge. In basic terms, the challenge is based on the notion that if it can be shown that the Congressional action was targeting at a single lawsuit, the Congressional action can be a violation of separation of powers between Congress and the judiciary.

Will this be a problem for other wolf bills in Congress?
H.R. 509 (the Rehberg bill), S. 249 (the Hatch bill) The American Big Game and Livestock Protection Act and H.R. 1819 (the Miller bill) The State Wildlife Management Act are not subject to this type of constitutional challenge. In other words, by more broadly addressing the issue of returning wildlife populations to state wildlife managers, it makes it very difficult for these environmental litigants to successfully challenge these bills as being unconstitutional.

Why are we concerned that Molloy may once again shut down the hunts?
Judges will often send subtle signals on how they are likely to rule. These can be difficult to interpret correctly. However, in this case Judge Molloy has moved the plaintiff summary judgment deadline BEFORE the defendants even have a chance to file their initial answer to the lawsuit. This is an unprecedented move. In fact one attorney stated, “I have never seen a court do this in my thirty-five years of practicing law.” A number of legal experts feel this may very well mean that Molloy intends to quickly file an injunction which would once again put wolves back on the endangered species list. This would once again stop wolf management activities in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Utah.

What does this mean for wolf delisting generally?
Congress will likely need to take additional action to return wolves to state wildlife managers. It is becoming increasingly clear, that without more comprehensive legislation, preservationist groups will file lawsuit after lawsuit to stop any wolf management and to ensure the spread of unmanaged wolves to more and more states. More effective and broader Congressional action is the best way to protect America’s Big Game and Wildlife Resources from this endless cycle of litigation.

What does this mean for delisting of the Western Great Lakes?
This should be a warning signal to folks in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is clear that these preservationist groups will file endless lawsuits to stop wolf management. We have seen it before in the Western Great Lakes. Without Congressional action, it is unlikely that an administrative delisting will lead to lasting wolf management by the states. This is one of the reasons we applaud the action by Congresswoman Miller. There is nothing that says that Congress needs to wait for the inevitable lawsuit to resolve this issue and return wolves to state wildlife managers. It is time to be proactive and recognize that without Congressional action, the wolf mess will continue.

Keep Fighting the Fight
Once again, it is clear that some anti-hunting groups are not giving up the fight. Sportsmen must stay in the fight as well to save the wildlife in the West and Western Great Lakes. Family ranchers are hurting, local economies are suffering, and wildlife is becoming the real loser.

The anti-hunting community wants sportsmen to get worn down. As we have stated previously, while there are no short cuts to fixing the wolf issue, this is a fight worth fighting. It is clear that Congress is ready, able and willing to restore the right of states to manage their wildlife. Over the last few months members of Big Game Forever have sent over 30,000 emails to members of Congress. These emails have come from all 50 states.

We will continue to keep you apprised of developments as they arise. The stakes are high for the future of the North American Model of wildlife management. Working together as a Nation of United Sportsmen, we can assure abundant wildlife populations for generations to come.

–
Ryan Benson

http://biggameforever.org/

ryandbenson@msn.com