Ninth Circuit Keeps Yellowstone Grizzly on the Threatened Species List
December 6, 2011. Despite the best efforts of SCI, the Federal government, Montana, Wyoming and others, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears must remain on the threatened species list for now. On a single ground, the Court upheld the 2010 ruling by Montana District Court Judge Molloy that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service improperly delisted the grizzly bear. The Court agreed with the District Court that the Service had not properly explained how projected declines in Whitebark Pine seeds, a primary food source for the bear, would not threaten the species. The Court did reverse Judge Molloy on one issue raised by SCI and others, that the existing regulatory mechanisms were sufficient to remove the grizzly from the threatened list. Unfortunately, the Court’s concerns about the Whitebark Pine issue are sufficient to vacate the delisting. What comes next is uncertain at this time. Judge Molloy and FWS, with input from SCI and others, will now have to determine how to proceed.
Above the law:
In Lake County, it's hard to tell some cops from the criminals
December 1, 2011. In 2005, a moose was standing somewhere in the mountains north of Columbia Falls when Jesse Jacobs allegedly shot it. Jacobs didn't have a permit, however, so he reportedly got one from a friend who was a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The tribal member took the meat. Jacobs claimed the head and antlers, which he would later mount and hang on his wall.
Jacobs, who had been in the Lake County Sheriff's Office's reserve training program, was charged with two poaching felonies in August 2010.
Meanwhile, Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Dan Duryee was spinning tall tales about his heroic service in the Gulf War, when in fact Duryee had never even been in the military. The Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council, or POST, is the state body that polices the police. As POST investigated Duryee's lies last year, it learned of other, potentially criminal activities in the Lake County Sheriff's Office—including poaching. Read more.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) has issued a Decision Notice (DN) for its Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) on Transfer/Placement of Bison
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) has issued a Decision Notice (DN) for its Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) that evaluated four locations for the interim placement of brucellosis-free bison. Those locations under consideration included: FWP's Marias River Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and Spotted Dog WMA, and Tribal lands on the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap Reservations. FWP will recommend to the FWP Commission that 68 bison be relocated to the Fort Belknap and Fort Peck Reservations pending the negotiations and approval of Memorandums of Understanding between the Tribes and FWP. No bison will be moved to the WMAs, and the bison currently at the Green Ranch will remain there. To view the full EA click here.
The Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission is expected to make a final decision on the project at its December 9th meeting Helena. Commission meetings are open to the public.
H.R. 1581: Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act of 2011 (112th Congress: 2011-2012)
Summary. To release wilderness study areas administered by the Bureau of Land Management that are not suitable for wilderness designation from continued management as defacto wilderness areas and to release inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System that are not recommended for wilderness designation from the land use restrictions of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Final Rule and the 2005 State Petitions for Inventoried Roadless Area Management Final Rule, and for other purposes. Click here for full fact sheet.
How does this impact Montana?
In Montana, nearly 27 million acres are federally owned (28.9% of state). A breakdown is shown below:
- Forest Service = 17,082,821 acres
- National Park Service = 1,214,184 acres
- Fish and Wildlife Service = 635,066 acres
- Bureau of Land Management (BLM) = 7,981,452 acres
- Department of Defense (DOD) = 8,338 acres
Total of these 5 = 26,921,861 acres, 28.9% of state
(State total = 93,271,040 acres)
Note: these are fee-simple acres as reported by each agency as federal lands under their sole or primary jurisdiction.
Of the 43 million acres held in limbo under wilderness characteristics nationally, how many acres in Montana are in this designation?
This may be a little confusing. The total inventoried roadless areas in Montana equal 6,397,000 acres, as they existed in Nov. 2000. Those numbers are only the Forest Service inventoried roadless areas, and do not include BLM's wilderness study areas (WSAs). The BLM has a total of 12,985,820 acres of WSAs, of which some have been recommended for wilderness designation. BLM WSAs in Montana total 449,963 acres, as of the end of FY2010; how much of this has been recommended for wilderness is not reported.
In calculating an estimate of acreage that would be released in Montana by H.R. 1581, Forest Service inventoried roadless acreage should be added (excluding the area recommended for wilderness) as well as the BLM WSAs not recommended for wilderness. Since the latter is not known, we can look at a range and assume that 5% to 25% of the WSA acreage had been recommended (about 22,500 to 112,500 acres), thus leaving about 337,500 to 427,500 acres if BLM WSA acreage is released. Thus, the total acreage released in Montana is probably about 5,900,000 acres to 6,000,000 acres. A significant impact.
House Natural Resources Committee Passes Legislation Protecting Sportsmen’s Access
November 17, 2011. Columbus, Ohio – Today the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 2834, the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act. This bill would protect fishing, hunting and recreational shooting on federal lands. Read more...
House Natural Resources Committee Passes Legislation Protecting Sportsmen’s Access
November 17, 2011. Columbus, Ohio – Today the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 2834, the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act. This bill would protect fishing, hunting and recreational shooting on federal lands.
H.R. 2834 passed the Committee with strong bipartisan support by a vote of 29-14. This vital piece of legislation would require fishing, hunting and recreational shooting to be included in all federal land planning documents and would fix numerous inconsistencies in federal law that are being exploited by litigious environmental groups to reduce hunting opportunities on federal land. This bill is strongly supported by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, Safari Club International, the National Rifle Association, and millions of sportsmen across the country.
“This legislation is vital given the Administration’s recent actions toward hunters and recreational sport shooters,” said Melissa Simpson, Director of Government Affairs for Safari Club International. “Sportsmen have repeatedly sought to collaborate with the federal agencies and have been greeted with proposed closures in areas such as the Sonoran Desert National Monument, where the BLM intends to close the entire one-half million acre national monument to shooters. There are some 63 shooting sites within the monument, closure of which will end access for sportsmen. Passage of H.R. 2834 is necessary to protect against these anti-hunting policies.”
“Sportsmen are increasingly facing attacks aimed at stopping them from using public land,” said Bud Pidgeon, President and CEO of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance. “This bill closes the loopholes that anti-hunters have used time and time again to try to deny access for hunting, fishing and shooting. Now is the time to put a stop to it. We are extremely pleased and appreciative that the House Natural Resources Committee recognized the importance of this bill.”
Special Update - SCI and the NRA Continue Fight to Protect Idaho and Montana Wolf Hunts!
November 7, 2011. SCI and the NRA are continuing their aggressive fight to protect the scientifically sound wolf hunts already underway in Montana and Idaho and to keep wolf management in the hands of the states. On November 8, 2011, SCI and NRA go back to court to battle anti-hunting organizations who ignore science for the purposes of their own fundraising and who continue to challenge the federal law that delisted the wolves of the Northern Rocky Mountains.
This week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear an appeal filed by two sets of animal rights groups, led by Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Center for Biological Diversity. The hearing will take place in Pasadena, California.
The appeal challenges the constitutionality of federal legislation that directed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to delist the wolves of Montana, Idaho, and portions of Utah, Oregon and Washington State. Montana federal District Court Judge Donald Malloy grudgingly upheld the constitutionality of the law. The animal rights groups appealed that decision and are attempting to persuade the Ninth Circuit that this law violates the Constitution.
SCI and the NRA intervened in the appeal and persuaded the Ninth Circuit to allow hunters a voice in the controversy. Two other groups, led by Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, were also granted intervention. SCI, the NRA and the other two intervening groups are coordinating their efforts to make the most effective use of the time that the court has given them to participate in the oral argument.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies also filed a motion for emergency relief in an attempt to stop the wolf hunt currently underway in Montana and Idaho. The Ninth Circuit refused to take action prior to the hearing and will be considering the motion at the Nov. 8th hearing. SCI and NRA submitted a detailed brief, enhanced with statements from two wolf experts, that supports the hunts as sustainable wildlife management strategies.
The Ninth Circuit will likely take the Constitutional challenge and the emergency motion under advisement, and issue their rulings in the weeks after the hearing. SCI will continue to advocate the delisting of recovered wolves throughout the west and will stand up to protect hunters against litigious anti-hunting radicals.
Please consider supporting SCI’s efforts to protect wolf hunting at www.hunterdefensefund.org.
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT ACTION ALERT
October 18, 2011. On Thursday Oct. 13 the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology held a hearing on the proper role of science and policy in implementing the Endangered Species Act. This hearing was held in light of the recent claims of false testimony by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) personnel and the unprecedented settlement agreement recently entered into by the Service which essentially cedes control of the endangered species program to litigious environmental groups for the next six years. SCI believes that this agreement does not use the best science and could harm wildlife and therefore SCI has actively opposed this settlement agreement in the current form.
Congressman Paul Broun of Georgia chaired the hearing which explored the manipulation of scientific data and how this influences on policy decisions. Several points were brought up about how the ESA limits endangered species conservation due to the burden it places on private landowners. The hearing also highlighted the appalling rate at which the ESA delists species, the misleading and deceptive testimony in Court by federal scientists, as well as the costs associated with environmental groups’ ESA litigation. Several species in particular were the topic of discussion, including the outlandish listing guidelines for polar bears and gray wolves. Rep. Dan Benishek and Rep. Sandy Adams also asked pointed questions about the Western Great Lake wolf delisting and the anti-hunting policies used by the Service in implementing the ESA.
SCI has made the modernization of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) one of our top long-term priorities. For years the ESA has failed to recover species and has been used as a tool to prevent hunting even when hunting has been shown to be beneficial to species conservation. It is time that the Act is updated in light of recent science and improved best practices in wildlife management. This hearing is an important step in the long-term process of ESA modernization.
Safari Club International would like to thank Rep. Paul Broun for his continued participation in matters pertaining to effective wildlife conservation. He has been a true leader on protecting hunting and promoting sound wildlife management. Please email Congressman Broun and thank him for holding this hearing and highlighting the ESA’s problems. You can contact him here: https://brounforms.house.gov/Contact/ContactForm.htm.
SCI Foundation Contributes $330,000 To Worldwide Wildlife Conservation Projects In Last Quarter Of Fiscal Year
August 31, 2011. Washington, DC – Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) announced today that it has contributed over $330,000 in the final quarter of their fiscal year to fund worldwide wildlife conservation projects. SCIF strategically focuses funding towards research and management of large predators and their prey, including game species, principally throughout North America, Asia and Southern Africa.
“The research programs selected by SCIF’s professional biologists inform wildlife managers and policy makers on critical wildlife management needs worldwide,” said SCIF President Joseph Hosmer. “SCIF strives to ensure management decisions are based on the best available science.”
“Throughout the year, SCIF contributes over one million dollars to wildlife research, management, and anti-poaching programs. As an international organization, SCIF continues to increase our financial impact for sustainable-use conservation and we hope more organizations can follow our lead,” said Hosmer.
North American Projects
SCIF donated $125,000 to fund multiple predator/prey projects in the U.S. and Canada. Conservation projects include caribou in Newfoundland, white-tailed deer in Michigan and Wisconsin, moose in Wyoming and elk in Montana, among others. The results of these projects will help determine the effects predators have on prey, specifically if predation is one of the causes of low juvenile recruitment.
The most recent project is the Montana elk project, in which SCIF has donated $50,000 to help the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks with its predator/prey research. |
