Persecuting the Wolf, Again

Washington wolf, credit: C. Monnette

Repugnants are not good loosers. They lost control of the House of Representatives in the mid-term, so how do they vent their ire?; By pushing through a bill to remove legal protection for the grey wolf.  Not bills on taxes or immigrants, but persecuted wolf.  Is that the epitome of pettiness?  US Person thinks so.  A vote to remove the wolf's protection under the Endangered Species Act in the lower forty-eight states is set to occur as early as Friday.  The lame-duck session will last for the month of December, minus the holidays.

The chairman of the House Rules Committee which put the bill on the agenda said it has bipartisan support especially in the west. Not all western representatives are enthusiastic about removing the wolf's protection. Wolf populations are just beginning to recover in most west coast states. Currently the US Forest Service is under legal obligation to protect wolf dens and habitat from human activity such as logging and grazing. Still wolves are killed in significant numbers for acts of predation on livestock. {09/30/2016}; {09/17/2017} Livestock owners and their lobby groups have pressured Repugnant representatives to remove protection for the predators, which are supported by "activist litigants" who "used the judicial system to circumvent sound science" to restore protections under the ESA removed in 2013. Of course these subsidized ranchers neglect to mention that scientific evidence supports the continued protection of grey wolves from persecution; their respect for the judicial system is such that they also want the bill stripping wolves of their legal lifeline exempted from judicial review.

The Center for Biological Diversity says wolves are missing from 90% of their historic range in the lower forty-eight states. The US Fish & Wildlife is currently studying the status of wolf recovery and could recommend again removing grey wolves from endangered status.; The Center sued the agency recently for failing to provide a nationwide management plan for the species. If you want to see wolves given a decent chance to recover from three hundred years of human persecution, write or call your representative in Congress and tell them to give wolves a chance to survive into the 21st century.