Soon the
commissioners at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will be voting on the
2013-2014 wolf hunting and trapping proposal. Under the current senior
leadership at Montana FWP it’s abundantly clear that they are determined
to plot a course that is a clear, radical departure from the Montana
Grey Wolf Recovery Plan.
Under Director Jeff Hagener’s guidance we are seeing a variety of different methods that would increase the slaughter of Montana’s wolves for no legitimate reason. Montana FWP’s plan is premature, failing to allow the recently signed House Bill 73 to take effect. Sadly, during the past legislative session Wolves of the Rockies worked side by side with Montana FWP to derail Senate Bill 397, only to have Montana FWP offer its version of SB397 in the 2013-14 wolf hunting and trapping proposal.
In the 2013-14 proposal we have increased “bag” limits to a total of five, extended hunting seasons, hunting over baited traps and an unreasonable quota on Yellowstone’s research and sustainable, revenue-producing wolves.
The current wolf proposal awaiting commissioner action and approval clearly flies in the face of the best available science and the public trust doctrine. While elk populations continue to increase and depredation continues to decrease throughout Montana, one has to ask the logical question: Why is Montana FWP in a three-state race to the bottom in science-based wolf management?
The answer is crystal clear. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks resents that wolves are on the landscape. Especially the wolves of Yellowstone National Park. It continually denies research such as the recent spring release of the Bitterroot Elk Study which reconfirms that elk are continuing to recover. This groundbreaking research also paints an accurate picture that wolves are not the vicious killing tyrants that many, including the leadership at Montana FWP, would have you believe.
Sadly, wolf enthusiasts and advocacy organizations, both in Montana and nationwide, are coming to the realization that Montana FWP, with Hagener at the helm, is plotting a course to return to what hunters refer to as the elk glory days, when Montana was an elk farm and hunting success was assured. The elk farm days came at a grave cost: a dysfunctional ecosystem, forage suppression and catastrophic, retarded riparian areas, with cottonwoods and aspens consistently kept to shrub levels.
Under the Public Trust Doctrine, Montana wildlife belongs to all Montanans. The governor delegates this responsibility to the director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The director is responsible for ensuring and implementing policies and proposals that represent best available science, taking into account the desires and concerns of all Montanans for the protection of all wildlife, not just ungulates, and not just the concerns of the consumptive hunter, trophy hunters and livestock producers’ interest. Clearly, the voice of all Montanans is not being fairly represented by Montana FWP.
Considering that hunting and trapping revenue is continually declining in Montana and throughout the U.S. in general, one has to ask the question: When will the leadership at Montana FWP purge its current mindset and tap into the sustainable revenue stream of the wildlife-watching enthusiast?
Marc Cooke of Stevensville is president and Kim Bean of Helena is vice president of Wolves of the Rockies.
source
Under Director Jeff Hagener’s guidance we are seeing a variety of different methods that would increase the slaughter of Montana’s wolves for no legitimate reason. Montana FWP’s plan is premature, failing to allow the recently signed House Bill 73 to take effect. Sadly, during the past legislative session Wolves of the Rockies worked side by side with Montana FWP to derail Senate Bill 397, only to have Montana FWP offer its version of SB397 in the 2013-14 wolf hunting and trapping proposal.
In the 2013-14 proposal we have increased “bag” limits to a total of five, extended hunting seasons, hunting over baited traps and an unreasonable quota on Yellowstone’s research and sustainable, revenue-producing wolves.
The current wolf proposal awaiting commissioner action and approval clearly flies in the face of the best available science and the public trust doctrine. While elk populations continue to increase and depredation continues to decrease throughout Montana, one has to ask the logical question: Why is Montana FWP in a three-state race to the bottom in science-based wolf management?
The answer is crystal clear. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks resents that wolves are on the landscape. Especially the wolves of Yellowstone National Park. It continually denies research such as the recent spring release of the Bitterroot Elk Study which reconfirms that elk are continuing to recover. This groundbreaking research also paints an accurate picture that wolves are not the vicious killing tyrants that many, including the leadership at Montana FWP, would have you believe.
Sadly, wolf enthusiasts and advocacy organizations, both in Montana and nationwide, are coming to the realization that Montana FWP, with Hagener at the helm, is plotting a course to return to what hunters refer to as the elk glory days, when Montana was an elk farm and hunting success was assured. The elk farm days came at a grave cost: a dysfunctional ecosystem, forage suppression and catastrophic, retarded riparian areas, with cottonwoods and aspens consistently kept to shrub levels.
Under the Public Trust Doctrine, Montana wildlife belongs to all Montanans. The governor delegates this responsibility to the director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The director is responsible for ensuring and implementing policies and proposals that represent best available science, taking into account the desires and concerns of all Montanans for the protection of all wildlife, not just ungulates, and not just the concerns of the consumptive hunter, trophy hunters and livestock producers’ interest. Clearly, the voice of all Montanans is not being fairly represented by Montana FWP.
Considering that hunting and trapping revenue is continually declining in Montana and throughout the U.S. in general, one has to ask the question: When will the leadership at Montana FWP purge its current mindset and tap into the sustainable revenue stream of the wildlife-watching enthusiast?
Marc Cooke of Stevensville is president and Kim Bean of Helena is vice president of Wolves of the Rockies.
source
