Is Judge Molloy signaling intention to shut down wolf hunts again in Idaho and Montana?

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