Congratulations to Wyoming on BIG legal victory.

Big Game Forever Supporters,

A number of you have heard of the decision by the government not to appeal Judge Johnson’s decision in support of Wyoming’s wolf management plan. Congratulations to the people of the state of Wyoming and all of the attorneys who have been working on this litigation for the last several years.

A year ago, the experts told us the only solution was to change Wyoming’s plan, capitulate, wait for the next Wyoming plan to be challenged in the courts in a couple of years and continue to fight the Judge Malloy decision in the Ninth Circuit court of appeals in San Francisco – basically a BIG losing strategy for five years – all the while wolves would continue to destroy game herds of the West.

When no one else wanted to fight, and even told us, it couldn’t be done, SFW and Big Game Forever said, we will see if Congress will act. Now with 61 Co-sponsors in the house and senate we have shown restoring states rights is a viable possibility. In so doing we have put a lot of pressure on lots of people, in lots of places to do the right thing and get wolves delisted now.

So, another major victory in the wolf war. US Fish and Wildlife decided not to appeal Judge Johnson’s ruling, which validates Wyoming’s wolf plan. Deciding not to appeal represents a common sense approach in support of science and good public policy. This is not only a victory for Wyoming, but for every state. It is a definitive legal decision which shows that the Federal Government may not usurp state management decisions. A very hard fought victory in support of the sovereignty of state wildlife management.

Don Peay
Big Game Forever

Some details below:

By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.

March 16, 2011

Wyoming and the federal government will head back to the negotiating table after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed with a court decision to reconsider Wyoming’s wolf plan.

The agency Monday withdrew its appeal of the court decision. U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne last year said the Fish and Wildlife Service ignored science when it rejected Wyoming’s plan.

“We will continue ongoing negotiations with Wyoming to reach agreement on a wolf management plan that satisfies the Endangered Species Act,” acting Fish and Wildlife Director Rowan Gould said in a statement Tuesday. “Rather than lose more time in court with an appeal that won’t help resolve the problem, the Service looks forward to working on a plan that can meet the state’s needs while ensuring maintenance of a viable and sustainable recovered wolf population that is connected to other populations in Montana and Idaho.”

At issue is Wyoming’s law and plan that would allow wolves to be killed by any means at any time in roughly 88 percent of the state.
Only in northwestern Wyoming would wolves be managed as trophy game, where they could be hunted according to regulation and season.

Today, wolves, remain protected by the federal Endangered Species Act. They were restored to Idaho and the Yellowstone area starting in 1995 with the goal of turning over management to states once established in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

Gould said state rule is still the goal. “We strongly believe that the recovered Northern Rocky Mountain distinct population segment of gray wolves is most appropriately managed by states and tribes under approved state management plans,” Gould said.
Wyoming politicians, including Gov. Matt Mead, applauded the decision.

“I thought the judge’s ruling was a strong one, and I think this action by the agency may be a sign that the service is willing to look at Wyoming’s plan in a real way and accept what Wyoming people want,” Mead said.

“We are trying to work in a spirit of cooperation and we are cautiously optimistic that we may get somewhere,” Mead said. “But, as I always say, this is a process and we’ve had our hopes dashed before. So we are moving cautiously, but in an optimistic fashion, to see whether we can get something done.”

Dropping the lawsuit will help solve the wolf issue. U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi said. “I was encouraged by acting Director Gould’s comments on the appropriateness of state and tribal management of wolves,” Enzi said in a statement. “That’s a good place for the negotiations to start back up again. It’s also a good place for the negotiations to end. I hope both sides can swiftly reach agreement.”

The nationwide delisting of wolves should be an Obama administration priority, U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis said.

“Today’s decision by the USFWS is a positive step,” she said. “Governor Mead’s negotiations provide the most promising way forward in finding an agreement that will bring relief to Wyoming’s big game herds, ranchers and farmers.”
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso said the science is on Wyoming’s side.

“Today’s decision by the USFWS is a step in the right direction,” he said in a statement. “The administration is right to finally recognize Judge Johnson’s ruling that there is ‘no meaningful scientific explanation’ why Wyoming’s plan will not protect the state’s wolf population.”

“Wyoming’s plan honors its commitment to successfully manage the wolf,” Barrasso said. “There is no reason for the USFWS not to immediately accept it.”

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition reserved judgement on the federal decision.

“We don’t know what this means yet for Wyoming’s wolf management plan, or for wolves, but clearly the current plan is flawed,” GYC wildlife advocate Chris Colligan said.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition objects to the plan’s predator classification and stated minimum number of wolves — 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs for the state. “GYC has been working to improve that plan,” Colligan said.

The news from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service comes after federal wolf managers released a report showing that wolf numbers in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming appear to be stabilizing, with researchers reporting a slight decline in the population for 2010.
The minimum estimated wolf population is 1,651 animals, compared with 1,733 animals last year, according to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2010 Inter-agency Annual Report. The decrease in wolf numbers reflects a 19 percent decline in Idaho, from 870 wolves in 2009 to 705 wolves last year, according to the report.

Wyoming increased from 320 wolves in 2009 to 343 last year and Montana increased from 524 to 556.

–The Associated Press contributed to this story.

This is great news and puts us one step further in the wolf battle – Hunters Against PETA