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LOBO WATCH Mails Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

Dear Governor Walker;

I've been reading where the residents of your state have finally gotten tired of living the wolf lie - as have the residents of every other state where wolves are destroying wildlife resources, negatively impacting livestock production, and posing both physical and health threats to human residents.

Much of this animosity toward wolves could have been prevented...if...

And "if" is indeed a mighty big word when it comes to this issue. If states would have stood up to the federal government 20 years ago, wolves would not be the problem they are now. If state wildlife agencies like the WI DNR would have rejected the idiocy of the USFWS wolf project, states would have a lot more control than they enjoy now. If those same state wildlife agencies had more carefully employed state biologists true to their career, we wouldn't be living as big a lie as we are now. The "ifs" could go on and on.

Fact is, EVERY state with an established wolf population has one heck of a lot more wolves than state and federal wildlife agencies admit. They are simply covering up the mess they've created, and perpetuate the lie by down playing the number of wolves in the major "wolf states"...including Wisconsin. I recently read where the WI DNR/USFWS is saying there are now 800-850 wolves in Wisconsin. Isn't the true number more like 1,200 to 1,500? I have been to northern Wisconsin many times. There is absolutely no way that anyone using any available technology could come even close to accurately counting wolves. And it is what your DNR experts don't know which is wiping out whitetail herds, damaging the rural economy and placing harsh impositions on the residents of your state.

During the Wisconsin Conservation Congress meetings held this past week in every county of the state, those attending all of these meetings were fairly unanimous in taking a stand against wolves. Issues included 1.) Establishing a wolf population of 350 or less...2.) WI DNR to implement meaningful wolf control...3.) To have the wolf federally delisted...4.) And to no longer simply relocate problem wolves (instead to eliminate them). All 72 counties voted in favor of these measures.

The bounty of wildlife that Wisconsin enjoys has been the result of nearly a hundred years of sound wildlife conservation practices, all paid for by the sportsmen of your state - not Johnny-Come-Lately organizations like the National Wildlife Federation...Defenders of Wildlife...the Humane Society of the United States...and other similar so-called "environmental" or "animal rights" groups, which have learned to milk the wolf "cash cow" for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Here in Montana, the sportsmen of this state are on the very edge of full revolt. They have grown sick and tired of the foot dragging and political grandstanding of do-nothing politicians, not to mention a state wildlife agency that has repeatedly lied to them - and those elected officials and politically appointed persons which have either contributed to the dramatic loss of wildlife or which have done little to nothing to stop the damage will most likely find themselves soon standing in the unemployment lines!

With wolves now at everyone's door in Wisconsin, you are now sitting on one very explosive powder keg. Attached is a release I sent out here in the Northern Rockies. More than ever, those who are being affected by out-of-control wolf populations and levels of depredation want to know who are their political enemies.

Toby Bridges
LOBO WATCH

(Note: The release mentioned can be read on the LOBO WATCH website at the following link.)


http://www.lobowatch.org/adminclient/Legislation6/go

Support A Fellow Wolf Warrior!

The combined efforts of many fighting to win control of growing and extremely destructive wolf populations are beginning to help insure that wolf numbers will be dramatically reduced. Much has been done on both state and federal levels. And as things get bashed around within our state legislatures and back in Washington D.C., we're learning who our political friends and who our political enemies are.

This arena will become the main thrust for LOBO WATCH as we now head toward the 2012 elections. There is some serious house cleaning to be done at all levels of government. And the sportsmen and true wildlife conservationists of this country continue to become more organized. We can and will make a major difference in future elections. We have grown tired of wishy-washy, flip flopping politicians who say one thing, then support efforts which are not in the best interest of hunting...fishing...and the outdoors in general.

It's time to remove them from office.

Another area that LOBO WATCH will now begin to focus on is to organize sportmen boycotts of those companies and services which financially support major anit-hunting enviromental groups - such as Defenders of Wildlife, the Humane Society of the United States, the Sierra Club, and the Center for Biological Diversity.

On local levels, LOBO WATCH will encourage all to scrutinize who they do business with...and to support ONLY those businesses who are with us in this battle to save America's wildlife from major predators - be they animal or human.

One business here in the Northern Rockies which needs to be recognized for being in this fight all the way is Alpine Artistry Taximermy, of Arlee, MT. The sign above, along U.S. 93 between Arlee and Ravalli, used to carry the shop's name, but owner Shawn Andres felt it needed to convey another message - to halt the devastation non-native and non-endangered Canadian wolves, wrongly forced on the residents of Montana by USFWS, have dealt elk, moose, deer and other wildlife species.

If you are looking for one true World Class taxidermist, take a look at Shawn's work at the following link. He is with us 100% in this Wolf War, strongly supporting wolf control hunts, attending sportsman meetings to discuss the problem, and protesting against wolves at rallies.

www.alpineartistry.com/

Toby Bridges
LOBO WATCH

Congress To Authorize Wolf Hunts...

The following just came in from Don Peay, the founder of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, in regards to Congressional legislation that could result in wolf control (a.k.a. "management") hunts in Idaho and Montana as early as late this month.

LOBO WATCH will have a release out on this tomorrow...and who to contact to push for those control/management hunts to get wolf numbers down before calf elk begin hitting the ground.

Get up to date on the wolf issue...Go To...
www.lobowatch.com

Toby Bridges
LOBO WATCH



"Fellow Sportsmen,

I am writing with a very important update on wolf delisting. Recent developments have added to what was already a very complex and dynamic situation. Hopefully, this email will help clarify the situation and what we can do as sportsmen to help wolf delisting move forward in Congress.

All indications are that the Long Term Continuing Resolution to Fund the Government for the Rest of the year will contain wolf delisting provisions for some states, but not others. Specifically, the 2009 Northern Rocky Mountain Distinct Population Segment Delisting Rule would be given the full force and effect of law. Additionally, part of the Congressional language would specifically precludes the ability of anyone to litigate the decision. So, wolf hunts, per state fish and game agency direction in Montana and Idaho can begin this year, potentially as early as this spring.

As many of you are aware, this language is far from perfect. So, here is what we believe it means to the overall wolf delisting effort:

1. All of Idaho, Montana and parts of eastern Oregon and Washington and a small part of northern Utah will remove wolves from ESA protection, and states will be allowed to manage wolves according to state management plans. This is potentially a very positive development, especially for Idaho and Montana.

2. nfortunately, the entire state of Wyoming, the majority of Utah, Colorado, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona, New Mexico and other states were not included. In fact, this action by Congress to codify the language of the 2009 delisting rule may be interpreted to reverse some of the important ground gained by Wyoming in support of dual management status and other aspects of their wolf management plan. This is a very concerning development which reinforces the need for further Congressional action to finish what we started.

3. Big Game Forever has already started the process to get the REST of the wolf states, including the Upper Midwest, and all of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska delisted as well in the next few months, in Congress. We are not done and we must ask Senator Tester, Senator Baucus and Congressman Simpson to help us finish the fight.

This is our understanding on process of how this wolf delisting bill will be passed into law. The wolf delisting language is being printed into the Continuing Resolution to fund the government on Monday, it will be voted on in the house on Wednesday, the Senate on Thursday, and President Obama will sign it into law on Friday. States should be able to immediately begin to manage wolves, just as they were, prior to the Malloy Decision to stop wolf hunts. This bill stops short of returning full state management authority back to these states, including Idaho and Montana. So USFWS remains in a supervisory role. But, if USFWS does not interfere and allows the states do their job, a wide variety of wolf management activities can be resumed by these states. We are hopeful this is a step in the right direction.

Interestingly, on Saturday (two days ago), Judge Malloy rejected the settlement brokered with the Animal Rights groups. These group had decided to drop the law suit against wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho – they wanted to settle so Congress would not act. To be clear, without the pressure in Congress built by our cosponsors, sportsmen, SFW and BGF, this proposed settlement would not have happened. This decision by Malloy to reject the settlement just proves once again, Judges cannot be allowed to decide issues about wolf management, they won’t even agree with the ENEMY, when the ENEMY is ready to surrender.

So, this Congressional Action is a GREAT Victory, and at the same time, it is a Great defeat if we allow this to be the end of the road.

The Great Victory is that just over one year ago, when other groups and experts said (1) Congress would not touch wolf delisting; and (2) the only solution was to fight it out in Court. SFW and BGF said Congressional action was the clearest path to restoring the rights of states to manage. Some very dedicated folks believed we could win in Congress if we changed the game. Randy and Coni Brooks stepped up with a $100,000 donation and Big Game Forever was formed. Increasingly, people began to believe. Independently, a Great American Sportsmen, Texas trial Attorney Ted Lyon, who owns a ranch in Montana, and was disgusted to watch wolves destroy elk herds in his back yard, independently began legal work on drafting what would become HR. 509 and S. 249. In Mid September, Mr. Lyon and BGF went to DC and began to obtain significant Congressional support to move wolf delisting legislation forward. Over 10,000 wolf warriors joined the effort at Big Game Forever to do what was said couldn’t be done. These wolf warriors not only joined the effort, they have worked week after week to make by making phone calls, sending emails and spreading the word on the need for Congressional action. Other groups have joined the effort and worked with us to make wolf delisting a reality.

It has not been an easy road. Even as late as last September, many in the hunting industry said BGF was foolish to think wolf delisting could occur in a Continuing Resolution (CR).

After meetings with Senate Leader Reid, and strong leadership by Senator Hatch, Barrasso, Kyle, McCain, and Congressman Matheson, Ross, Rehberg and others, an incredible amount of progress was made to educate Congress about the destruction of jobs, wildlife herds, rural economies. The case was made and it became clear that CONGRESS was ready to Act to save elk, moose, deer and other wildlife from further delays in delisting. We knew Congressional Action could be achieved, it would just be an incredibly hard and intense fight, requiring strong grass roots support in many states.

So, now the animal rights community and some radical environmental groups want to stop any wolf delisting form occuring. While the bill is not perfect, and in fact has some clear problems, it does clearly set a precedent for Congressional action to delist wolves. This precedent can be helpful to other states who need delisting, including Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, New Mexico and states like Utah, Nevada, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa who do not want the destruction to spread to their states. We suggest that for wolf delisting to move forward for all states, we need to counter the efforts of the these anti-hunting groups to kill this bill. We need to thank Senators Tester and Baucus of Montana for Sponsoring this legislation, and for Congressman Simpson for finding a way to get something done. Congresswoman Lumis of Wyoming tried to amend the bill and include Wyoming after the Judge Johnson decision, but house rules are peculiar, and after the cake had been cooked, it couldn’t be changed. So let’s thank Senate President, Leader Reid, Tester, Baucus and Simpson and ask them to join the 60 cosponsors who have already said they will fight for delisting for all states and all Americans.

It will also be important to drop some emails, make some phone calls this week, into the Whitehouse. There are some indicators that Obama will sign the bill. Tester and Baucus were in the press yesterday saying the Democratic Senators and Obama had agreed to put this languate in the hotly debated CR. This was agreed to in principle late Friday night.

The great defeat is that all the other wolf states were left out of this language. And here are some reasons for that:

ON Feb. 16, at the BGF sponsored DC event in the US Capitol, Senator Risch’s Chief of staff came with a DRAFT bill they said they had Democratic Support included all of Utah and all of Wyoming.

After that meeting, sportsmen groups in Michigan, MN and Wisconsin began to engage to get their states delisted as well.

Tremendous support for and All state delisting HR 509 and S. 249 was growing, and looking to become a reality, so opponents to wolf delisting, including the USFWS, Animal Rights groups, and some Democratic Senators who had been completely opposed to any Congressional Action on wolf delisting said, “We have got to do something or this issue will run us over.”

Unfortunately, some hunting groups decided to work toward accepting an easier two state deal, instead of taking a four state deal, or even fighting for a better deal. As I said earlier, now the cake has been baked and this will be the incremental victory for now. So we all need to work this week to make sure this important precedent is established that shows that Congress must act to delist wolves, even if just for a few states. If we can win this incremental victory, we must then all work to finish the job. There will be those who will try to use this two state deal to end further delisting in the Midwest and West. We know that this incremental step is not good enough for ranchers, for sportsmen and for America in the long run. We must return the full rights of all states to manage wolves and all wildlife without strings attached. Our commitment is to keep up the fight to stop the destruction, restore balance and begin recovering wildlife populations for all of America.

Some very powerful groups have made this solid commitment to keep up the fight and work with us until it is done. We have requested meetings with some of the other groups to put the divisiveness behind us and hopefully, we can move forward in the future, together to solve this wolf issue, for all states, for all sportsmen, with all groups working together.

Great Victory, lets go finish the job to return full state management of all wolves, in every state to State Fish and Game Agencies and remove the Federal Government from State wildlife management.

BGF is rapidly growing membership and endorsements and respect amongst Congressional Leaders. We will not rest until we have achieved Victory and stopped the efforts by animal rights groups to (1) destroy the future of responsible management; and (2) destroy what sportsmen have invested billions to restore."

When sending this to the newly formed Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, which is just now turning 1-year old, Don Peay added...

"Congratulations MONTANA SFW. Clearly your efforts have FORCED the agenda. I hope you will now do two things

1. Start Engaging MT FWP to have a wolf hunt starting on NEXT Monday

2. Stick with Rehberg, and encourage Tester and Baucus and continue to help BGF and SFW fix the rest of the country.

You guys efforts have born real fruit for Montana. Should be signed into law by Friday."

Contact Idaho Governor Butch Otter And Ask Him To Sign HB-343 Into Law!

Subject: HB-343 on Governors desk

Please contact Governor Otters office and request that he sign HB-343 Wolf Emergency Legislation, and take appropriate action to enforce its provisions.

http://gov.idaho.gov/ourgov/contact.html


FOLLOWING IS THE MESSAGE I SENT TO GOVERNOR OTTER IN REGARD TO THE IDAHO EMERGENCY WOLF DECLARATION...


Dear Governor Otter;

Although I live in neighboring Montana, I do spend a great deal of time in your state, and like many, I have seen the devastation wolves have dealt wildlife resources there.

Please be man enough to sign HB-343 into law. Yes, it challenges the federal government...Yes, it challenges the Endangered Species Act...Yes, it challenges the rulings of Judge Donald Molloy. However, most importantly it challenges radical environmental groups who have worked so hard to destroy a way of life here in the Northern Rockies.

The residents of Idaho are looking to you to stand up to government and environmental idiocy. Idaho's House of Representatives and Senate have voted the will of the people. Will you let them down by not signing this legislation?

Toby Bridges
LOBO WATCH


For A Look At Why Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin And Michigan Are All Now Working On Wolf Management Legislation...And Why There Are Now Two Bills In Washington D.C. Aimed At Removing Wolves From The Protection Of The Endangered Species Act - Go To This LOBO WATCH Article -

www.lobowatch.com/adminclient/WolfWar2/go

Former U.S. Forest Service Employee Spotlights The Damage The Endangered Species Act Has Caused The Northern Rockies

The following letter was sent as testimony to the Montana Legislature in support of H.B. 321, which called for nullifying the federal Endangered Species Act in Montana. It was sent by former U.S. Forest Service employee Ken Guy. And while this bill did pass the Second Reading with a 61 to 39 vote, it is expected to die. This is one of the pieces of legislation that Governor Schweitzer has deemed a waste of the state legislature's time, and which he would not sign if it did reach his desk.

Ken Guy says it like it really happened. He knows...because he was one of those dedicted foresters who were forced to do whatever the Department of the Interior wanted.

Very eye openning. - Toby Bridges, LOBO WATCH



From: Ken Guy
To: senator@tester.senate.gov; max@baucus.senate.gov; tom.schultz@mail.house.gov
Subject: Endangered Species Act
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:06:58 -0600

This letter is in response to the State Legislators in Helena who are considering the nullification of the Federal Rare and Endangered Species Act. I believe it should be nullified and these comments are intended to help them decide to nullify the thing. I thought you might be interested.-----------Ken
________________________________________

From: guys2006
To: krayton@kraytonkerns.org
Subject: Endangered Species Act
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:56:47 -0600

Legislators: These comments refer to the Federal Endangered Species Act. I would like these comments read and included.

I am a retired Federal Forest Service employee. I was the one to establish a Grizzly Bear Coordinator position and a Wolf Coordinator position in the Regional Office of the U.S. Forest. (We knew not what we did.) Following this the Feds with the environmentalists passed the Rare and Endangered Species Act. Following that we stopped management activities anywhere near the wolfs and the bears so as not to disturb them. Following that the Forest Service went downhill, closing off more and more land for the rare and endangered, and the forests are now essentially closed and hardly a stick of timber is being cut and sold. Now the economy and thousands of jobs are gone, both federal F.S. jobs and private industry jobs. They can't return until the infrastructure is returned, that is, the mills and the loggers etc. I believe this to be the objective of the Act and the intended outcome. It used to be the those wanting the forests' to be closed would do local things like pouring sand in the gear boxes of the heavy logging equipment on evenings and weekends, pound spikes in the trees to break band saws, chain themselves across the roads to stop logging trucks and so on. This was all after the Bitterroot Scandal where there was a citizen uprising against clear cutting in the early years of the 1960's. The F.S. stopped the practice except for some small acreage locations. I called those trespassers at the time radical environmentalists. They did lots of other damages too, such as shoot out the windmill gear boxes on grazing allotments, drain water from cattle water tanks and troughs, then post no trespassing signs on govt. property in an attempt to keep others off Government property and so forth.

You see, there are National Forests that were set aside for "use", and then National Parks set aside for "recreation".. They would like to see all the "use" activity stopped. The Rare and Endangered Species Act along with the National Environmental Policy Act and a group of similar Acts were joined in to finish off and "Kill" the Forest Service. The Forest Service is now gone....oh, there is still a clerk in there to answer the phone. The new efforts seem to be to set aside large areas to create more wilderness.

The Environmentalists have made ghost towns throughout the Pacific north " west. We at one time cut 2.2 MM board feet of timber per year and provided KV funds to schools, and to communities in Montana . We operated the F.S. like a business and provided over two billion dollars per year to the General Fund. So I ask you, is that what you want now, no jobs, no thriving economy, bug killed trees and a red forest, and a dead Agency.

But then it's going on all over the country here and elsewhere. This is the Treasure State . But our treasure is locked up by the environmentalists and can't be used. All in the name of environmentalism....coal, oil and gas, the use of water, forage, wild life, recreation, mining, and you name it, it ain't being used.....look at California, the counties of Bakersfield and Fresno, the breadbasket of the U.S. for vegetable crops, and they can't use water for irrigation any longer. I have seen the country and it's all brown grass where once there were vegetables as far as the eye could see. So I ask you, Is that what you want? Is that representing us the people. We have to decide.

Do we want the Snail Darter little fish and the Kangaroo Rat to rule,....the Polar Bear supposedly disturbed, as by their own studies to show that we are killing the planet. Do you believe their data any longer? I believe there are about 70% of us out here that think the planet is being killed but not by the average citizen. Stop the wolves etc. and stop the Rare and Endangered Species Act. I'll be 80 soon and I have never seen it so bad. You folks did it to us along with the other legislators. Now we expect that you may want to correct past practices. The original environmentalists were the foresters.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Ken Guy


This Goes Hand-In-Hand With The Following Post...

State's Right To Control Wolves

When it comes to claiming that each and every state should have the right to control or "manage" wolves that are now destroyng wildlife populations and making a very negative dent into livestock driven economies, both Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and Idaho Governor C.L. Butch Otter seem to have absolutely no problem spouting off and taking issue with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But whenever it comes time to stand tall in defiance of Endangered Species Protection of gray wolves...neither seems to be be man enough to back up what they say. In short, their mouths tend to write checks that their asses can't cash.

Both of these governors, under pressure from the citizens of their states, have written letters to the Secretary of the Interior proclaiming that, despite federal protection of wolves, these states would no longer manage wolves according to federal court-ordered mandates. Likewise, these two governors have boasted that their state wildlife officials would not investigate the deaths of Big Brother's wolves, and would not prosecute anyone for killing wolves.

"Sending" those letters to the Secretary of the Interior is about as far as these two braggadocios have taken those threats of defiance. The residents of these two states are sick and tired of wolves, and feel that time for action has come and past. On the other hand, the legislatures of these two states are now considering bills which would pretty much do what these two meaningless braggarts boasted. And the biggest opposition to "taking charge of the wolf issue" in Idaho and Montana now seems to be coming from the governors of the two states.

In a classic example of political grandstanding this past week, Schweitzer stood in front of the Capitol building in Helena, brandishing a large "VETO" branding iron for big bills...a medium sized "VETO" branding iron for medium sized bills...then pulled a small sized "VETO" iron out of his pocket for smaller bills. And during comments at the start of the state's 62nd Legislative Session, this governor claimed he would not sign any bills challenging the federal government. And, that's a real shame, since the MT Senate just passed a bill known as the "Montana Wolf Control Act" that has some real bite to it.

The text of that bill can be seen at the following link -
http://destroyersofwildlife.blogspot.com/

Perhaps the citizens of this state need to start putting pressure back on this backpedaling braggart.

Next door in Idaho, a similar bill, which has been dubbed the "Idaho Wolf Emergency Declaration" is to be introduced this week (on April 6). Among other slight difference, the approach of this legislation is to give the governor the power to declare a state of emergency in any county where wolf populations are a threat to ranching, are destroying wildlife populations, are seriously impacting county economies, or present a clear and present danger (physical, health, psycological) to humans.

As originally drafted, this was a much more comprehensive bill, filled with claims such as... "that wolf recovery efforts in Idaho discontinue immediately and wolves be removed by whatever means necessary." And it directly challenged the U.S. Government, with wording such as "The United States has not dealt with the State of Idaho in good faith concerning the reintroduction of gray wolves in Idaho..." The original draft even included a clause which would have called for placing a $500 bounty on each wolf killed.

All of that has been changed...but the legislation does call for the removal of wolves which are creating a seriously negative impact on Idaho's traditional way of life. But, since it does challenge federal authority to manage wolves, many feel that Governor Otter simply won't man up to his earlier boastfulness.

Again...putting pressure on these two governors could make a difference. In fact, a rally to support the Idaho legislation is now being organized. Anyone wishing to be seen or heard is asked to be at the State Capitol building in Boise at 11 a.m. on April 6th. And they are asked to call the Governor's office at 208 334-2100, and urge him to support this legislation.

You can also go on-line at http://gov.idaho.gov/ourgov/contact.html and send him a form letter requesting the same.

Montanan's wanting to express their support of the "Montana Wolf Control Act" can call Governor Schweitzer's office at 406 444-3111. Or, drop him an e-mail to insist that he sign this legislation, which the Senators that represent the citizens of this state have already passed. His e-mail address is governorSchweitzer@mt.gov.

Toby Bridges
LOBO WATCH

NOTE: This coming week there will also be a wolf protest rally in conjunction with wolf management legislation needed now in Oregon. Following is a press release from "Wolf Free Oregon"...which is sponsoring this event. Go Get 'Em Guys...And Gals!


WOLF FREE OREGON

Taxpayers Taking Charge of the Canadian Grey Wolf Problems

Editorial News/Press Release
April 3, 2011

Clearing the Waters of the Wolf Wars

On Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at High Noon on the West steps of the Oregon State Capitol, Wolf Free Oregon, Mothers Against Wolves, Blue Mt. Archers and Save Oregon Elk will hold a protest rally for the removal of the Canadian Grey Wolf from Oregon, carrying this message loud and clean will be “Bullhorns and Mothers,” a group of ten mothers armed with bullhorns who ask “Can You Hear Us Now!” They will be supported by their cheering section of two chartered bus loads of passionate taxpayers from Eastern Oregon and sportsmen from Western Oregon. The Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Project has been plagued with ongoing accusation of relying on manipulated science to dump a non-indigenous wolf into the region; outright lies to camouflage the devastation wolves would deal other wildlife population and the livestock industry.

The wolf issue has become an environmental version of the television game show “Deal or No Deal.” A short press conference will be held at 12 noon on the West steps prior to the start of the protest.