Wolf populations a "State of Emergency"???

I'm having a 'sphincter says what?' moment, because that is exactly what I think the Idaho state legislature is full of. Check this out:

http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2010/HCR043.pdf

Um. What? Kay folks, who's going to let me know who to send all the wolf-hater hate mail to? Should I go with just the government of Idaho, or the entire American chain of command? Who has a petition for me to sign that says "Save wolves and tell the Idaho Government that they are RETARDS!"?

Denver speaks out against Aerial Gunning

Defenders of Wildlife and Timber the wolf-hybrid showed up in downtown Denver on Monday to protest Alaska's Aerial Gunning program. Passers-by were able to pet the docile animal and sign postcards and leave their comments condeming aerial gunning.

Go Denver! Thanks for leading the pack (haha pun) on this one. Maybe you can teach those coyote killers up in Washington or the Croc killers in Florida a thing or two about understanding, accepting, and finding non-lethal and/or humane methods of managing wildlife.

In your face, Sarah Palin!

While Palin was campaigning in Indiana last week, so was Defenders of Wildlife. Thanks to donations from Defenders supporters, they were able to run ads exposing Palin's brutal wolf slaughter record, including 240 wolves killed already this season, and plans to implement gas and snares to kill denning wolves and pups.
So thanks, Defenders supporters, for helping to run this hard-hitting ad campaign against Palin's anti-wolf agenda.

Facebook Fairy Garden Update: I harvested my first vitual flower and helped secure 2 square feet of endangered rainforest!

And the award goes to...

That would be the 'Jackass of the Day' award. Or as I prefer to dub it the 'Rat Bastard' award.

And it goes to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, for following the Bushies misguided justification for delisting Grey (gray) wolves in the Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone. Way to jump on that 'change' thing, buddy.

As you can probably tell I'm just a little frustrated and a twinge angry right now. I'm not going to say anything else, lest I be forced to censor myself.

Click here if you'd like to donate to Defenders of Wildlife's emergency legal fund, or sign petitions, or do anything else remotely useful.

Sarah Palin vs El Lobo

I took this quote from the comments section of Scientific America's article "Why does Sarah Palin Support shooting wolves in Alaska?"
Quote from commenter "Alaskan Lady"

"There is a lot of confusion about Sarah Palin and her support of aerial wolf hunting. We are former 20+ year Alaska residents, and my husband, a hunter, was appointed to the Alaska Board of Game by former Alaska Governor Tony Knowles in 2000. The 7 member Board makes wildlife management decisions for the state. The current Board has approved aerial wolf control. http://www.boards.adfg.state.ak.us/gameinfo/index.php

We made the 10 minute video, End Aerial Wolf Hunting, in Jan of 2008 using testimony from Alaska Department of Fish & Game staff, a master hunting guide, and Board of Game members. http://current.com/items/88811075/end_aerial_wolf_hunting.htm Although the video has not been updated since the ballot initiate vote in August of 2008, the testimony, documentation, and research has not changed. The video also references a study done by the National Research Council and the American Society of Mammalogists. http://www.alaskawolfkill.com/Palin_Letter.html

This video exposes the fallacy behind Governor Sarah Palin's claim that predator control is based on sound science. Declarations that the program is for the benefit of subsistence hunters are shattered with documentation showing that sport and trophy hunters take up to 73% of prey in areas where aerial wolf hunting has taken place.

A 4 1/2 minute version of the video can be seen here: http://current.com/items/88816799/end_aerial_wolf_hunting_short_version.htm

Five years in the making, this video exposes the truth about the stranglehold the hunting lobby has on wildlife management in Alaska."

Bush targets Wolves. AGAIN!

Alright, how many times are we going to have to go through this process? The Bush administration, even in its literal last days (THANK GAIA!) continues to mount attack after attack on one of the most amazing wildlife recovery success stories ever: The Grey Wolf. For the umpteenth time in the last few years the Bush admin is making a last ditch effort to once more strip wolves in the Yellowstone region of the vital protections that have allowed this keystone species to make such a remarkable comeback, revitalizing tourism and the very ecosystem itself in the process.
This is our moment, guys. This is the last chance the Bush Administration will ever have to destroy all the hard work of countless conservationists, and the people like you and me who help support them. Until individual states can come up with a SOUND plan to maintain their wolf packs in a SUSTAINABLE manner, this duty must continue to fall under Federal jurisdiction, which means that endangered species protections must remain in place until a management plan can be agreed upon by states and conservation organizations alike.
No other endangered species, save one, has made such a remarkable recovery from the brink of extinction as the wolf. That other species is the very symbol of our country: The American Bald Eagle. The Bald Eagle has made such an amazing recovery that it is now delisted. We can all hope that this is true for another symbol of American power and perserverance, the Grey Wolf. But today is not that day, friends. We still have a long road to travel, much to teach, and much to learn before the Grey Wolf can enjoy that fabled status. And they need our help to get there.
PLEASE HELP THEM!

Mad bloggin' on wolves

My friend Quis got me started reading various blogger's articles on Palin last night, so that naturally led me to a succession of articles on feminism, and wolves. Here are the ones about wolves.

Her Deadly Wolf Program

Killing the Wolves again
This one made me cry. R.I.P. Limpy, of the Druid Peak pack. The Druids are my favorites.
It also highlights the amazing kinship of all living things...who knew reintroducing wolves could help Aspen trees grow? And actually increase the number of Pronghorn Antelope?

What horrifies the wildlife watchers is killing a wolf just for being a wolf. "For anyone to just go out and shoot a wolf without any reason, [a wolf] which hasn't gotten into any trouble, is criminal," says Connolly. "It's dishonorable, disrespectful of nature, and it shows an extreme lack of understanding of how the natural world works."

The wolf in all of us
Unfortunately this one appears to be older, and as we all know, Bush changed his mind. Still, a good article.

Will it ever end?

That's a good question, when it comes to Alaska's aerial hunting debate. Well here's your chance to try to swing the vote.
Tuesday Alaskans will finally vote on Aerial Hunting in Alaska, and the anti-wolf and other wildlife factions are making a last ditch effort to sway Alaskan voters with smear campaigns against wolves and touting of Alaskan wildlife as a trophy hunter's paradise, ignoring the brutal and unsportsmanlike nature of aerial gunning.
But we can help Defenders of Wildlife share the truth, by helping them to run a new ad exposing the truth behind aerial gunning.
You can view the ad HERE.
We only have until Tuesday folks, so lets get crackin', and close this deal once and for all!

Grey Wolves Re-listed!

A federal judge granted an injunction that will temporarily place Grey Wolves back on the endangered species list until research proves whether they need it or not.
This means planned hunts for the fall are now off! Unfortunately, I can sense a rise in poaching coming...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2008/07/work-in-progres.html

Yellowstone under attack

Two alerts from Defenders of Wildlife this week:

The Yellowstone Bison slaughter, and the killing of wolves in the Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain regions.
According to wikipedia.com the American Bison is listed as "Lower Risk" in conservation status...but that lower risk comes with the title "Conservation Dependant." So, if these animals depend on our conservation efforts in order to thrive, why do park officials chase wandering buffalo back into the park where they can't find food in winter, or ship them off to be slaughtered? Because of unfounded fears that Buffalo (or Bison if you prefer), which belong to the same family as domestic cattle will pass along diseases to domestic cattle. The disease Brucellosis can be passed from animals to animals and animals to humans by intact skin contact...that means it's highly contagious, kids. But that doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me. The thing that strikes me most about the issue is that as near as I can tell, while Canada has completely eradicated the disease in their country, the United States doesn't seem to even require ranchers to vaccinate their animals against it! And we're going to kill the BUFFALO? Cause yeah, its their fault!
Now, I'm not a big fan of vaccinating wild animals against diseases (other than rabies, perhaps) but to me this seems like a case where vaccination of wild elk (which can also harbor the disease) and bison herds might be the lesser of two evils.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program: Rocky Mountain Wolves.
The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and parts of Idaho and Montana has been one of the greatest endangered species recovery success stories of all time. So great, in fact, that the Bush Administration has been fighting to de-list them (prematurely, in the eyes of many conservationists) and last week Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming took over 'management' of the 1200 some wolves living in their states. To people like Idaho Governor Butch Otter (You can email his office here) this de-listing reads like an invitation to slaughter, and officials in Wyoming are planning to kill wolves on sight in as much as 88% of the state, including zeroing out (that means eradicating) entire wolf packs.
By comparison, Minnesota, which shares its 3500 wolves with Michigan and Wisconsin, manages its own wolf population and has set a minimum population limit of 1600...that's more wolves than live in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to begin with.

Aerial Gunning Update: Please help stop it!

I wish I had the time to keep up with my goal of four or more LG articles a month, but with spring coming and the days getting longer my own days get longer as well! Never the less, here is the latest on Alaskan Governor Palin's anti-democratic attempts to continue the aerial slaughter of wolves and bears in Alaska.
As I've mentioned before, twice in the past when it has come to a vote Alaskan voters have voted AGAINST aerial gunning, and twice they have had their decision overturned. What is the point of living in a democracy if our votes mean nothing? And horror of horrors, Governor Palin is being considered for VICE PRESIDENCY? That's it. I'm moving to Canada. Mr. McCain, you should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking a bout it! Governor Sarah Palin is a politician of the worst sort, running smear campaigns against defenseless wildlife, and secretly trying to push bills through legislature that would strip Alaskan voters of their right to weigh in on key wildlife issues such as aerial gunning! Even if you care nothing for wolves it would be wrong to allow this sort of fascist manipulation to continue.
As always you can donate to Defenders of Wildlife to help them continue to run ads exposing Governor Palin's attempts to neuter Alaskan voters, or you can simply personalize and sign this handy petition.

Wolf Forum, Dec. 3

This article says it nicely, so I won't try to splice an argument together...forgive me if I copy/paste.
From the Alamagordo Daily News:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will present a public meeting on the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program Monday, Dec. 3, at the Tays Center from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The program is about a long-debated issue that has raised concerns among ranchers and farmers, while winning support among environmental groups.
"It's important to me, as an environmentalist, to have wolves as a valuable and necessary part of our ecosystem," animal advocate Steven Diehl said in an interview Wednesday. "They are not a threat to humans and they are not an economic detriment to anyone at least not the southwestern sub-species. Any ranchers that have livestock taken by wolves are reimbursed by Defenders of Wildlife for the full market value of their losses."
Diehl said if ranchers modify their livestock husbandry practices, they can greatly reduce depredation.
"It's less than one percent depredation as it stands," he said. "It would be even less with such a modification."
Diehl thinks part of the problem is a land use issue.
"It's not an economic problem," he said. "And it's not a danger issue, as there has never been even one authenticated case of a wolf ever killing a person in the wild in North America. So it has to be something else."

Click the link to read the rest of the article.

My uncle lives in Alamagordo. Lovely place.

Support the PAW Act and save Alaskan Wolves

I said I was tired of having to talk about it. That doesn't mean I'm going to STOP talking about it. Every step we take in the right direction brings us closer than ever to ending Alaska's aerial hunting forever.
A couple of months ago California Congressman George Miller (D) introduced the PAW (Protect Americas Wildlife) Act. Since then more than 100 thousand people have written to their representatives asking them to support Congressman Miller's proposed legislation, and Defenders of Wildlife secured donations to run a series of ads and mini-documentaries highlighting the horrors of Alaska's wolf 'management' plan. Donor support has helped the PAW Act gain crucial support in Congress, but there is still much work to be done before the legislation can be put to work. To this end Defenders is running an ad in Congress Daily and they need your help!
Click here to view the ad.
Already Alaskan officials are handing out wolf hunting permits. Licenses to kill in a most heinous and unsportsman-like fashion.
Don't let this go on for another season of death. Help Defenders of Wildlife stop it, now!

Wolf Awareness Week

Author's Note: Having blogger issues, sorry for no pictures. This article is a repost, and some links may no longer be active. To sign the latest petitions concerning wolves visit the Defenders of Wildlife main page and navigate to the wolf section, or click here to send a letter to your local representative supporting the PAW Act and an end to aerial gunning. First, let me repeat in case anyone has somehow managed to miss the bulletin: There is not a single case of a healthy wild wolf fatally attacking a human being in North America. I'm not even sure we have any actual documented attacks, period. Unlike mountain lions, bears, heck even a really grumpy seal will take a bite out of you. So why does the wolf get such a bad rap? I'll tell you, its a mystery to me. Now the mountain lion, you'll never see him coming. He attacks from ambush, pouncing from a ledge or hiding within sprinting distance on the downwind side of a trail. The mountain lion is solitary, and it seems to placate people to think that when they have a problem with a mountain lion they can just shoot that lion and the problem is gone. But wolves are pack animals. Even taking out the alphas might not solve a problem, if the whole pack has learned an aberrant behaviour, such as killing livestock. And wolves stalk their prey. Maybe that's what people find so disturbing about them. The cunning, the study, the psychological game of cat and mouse that the wolf likes to play. Maybe there's something in the personality of wolves that reminds us of ourselves, and people find that offensive. <-Ain't he go-jus? Whatever it is, its something that the people of North America brought over with them when they came from Europe and Asia. When North America was first settled wolves ranged the entirety of the continent, excluding only the deepest parts of the south. Before they were protected in the 1960's they were trapped and killed nearly to extirpation (or local extinction, as there were still plenty of wild wolves in Canada, Alaska, and parts of Europe) with as much as a 14 dollar bounty on their heads. Early trappers didn't much care what else they killed either, and some used poison laced carrion (usually strychnine) which could kill fifty wolves in one night, not to mention the ravens, coyotes and other scavengers it attracted. Sometimes the poison seeped into the ground and even poisoned the grass, long after the carcass was gone, and deer and elk would die. Long after that the bones of the dead animals might be chewed by another, and it too might die. By the time wolf recovery came around wolves were holding out in a very small population in northern Minnesota, but had been otherwise removed from the lower 48 states. Today helped in part by Defenders of Wildlife's program which reimburses ranchers who lose stock to depredation wolf populations in the two main reintroduction sites in Yellowstone Natl. Park and Idaho are well up, and I'm proud to be a member of their "Adopt a wolf pup" program. I've also adopted a Bison, but though I am heartened that wolves have once again begun hunting their most fearsome natural prey in Yellowstone, I hope my wolf pup and my bison never meet! So what is to stop the Grey Wolf from spreading further? Habitat encroachment for one. Game Hunting for another. In Alaska and Canada its still legal to hunt or trap wolves, but not so in the lower 48. So aside from wolves killed through the 'lethal control' plan which eliminates stock killers and other potential problem animals, wolves have to deal with human hunters sharing their food source. Only to the average human hunter it isn't a food source, is it? Its just a pretty rack of antlers to hang on the wall. I've actually had someone spot my 'adopt a wolf pup sticker' and read me the riot act about how wolves kill elk, which rightfully belong to human hunters. Right buddy. There ARE people who still hunt for food. And for them I'm sorry if Mr. Wolf got there first. But before we go shooting wolves for killing elk, why don't we say...limit hunting licenses for SPORT hunter's first? I mean, my god, what would you poor big game hunters do if you couldn't go out and kill something? Maybe play a video game. Try Deer Hunter. As for those of you out there who appreciate our wolves, I urge you to go to the Defenders of Wildlife's 'take action!' page and help stop them from exterminating wolves in the lower 48, and stop the barbaric aerial gunning in alaska! We still need 100,000 actions for halting aerial gunning to reach our goals!

Outrageous! Alaska's Anti-Wolf Propaganda

From Defenders of Wildlife newsletter: "It’s simply outrageous. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has signed off on a $400,000 state-funded propaganda campaign to justify the state’s barbaric wolf slaughter from the skies."
Kay, call me a neophyte when it comes to understanding the workings of the government but here's what I just can't get. How can a government official justify spending FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND of her taxpayers (or is that all us taxpayers? hm) dollars to fund a propaganda campaign AGAINST what the voters have voted for (and been somehow ignored) repeatedly? Doesn't anyone look at government expense reports and go "Hey, that doesn't make sense. She just spent a whole boatload of voters money to do something the voters voted against." Someone define "Democracy" for me again?
Most of the time I try to keep from getting political but it gets harder and harder as I become more and more frustrated with a system of government which will eventually get all of us killed. Yes, the republicans too. No one will be safe. I should start a whole other blog for my political ranting but I admit I don't know enough about politics to say much of intelligence. But I do know right from wrong, and this sort of abuse of power and squandering of taxpayers money, not to mention the heinous slandering of wolves is NOT RIGHT!
In Norse mythology, Ragnarok will be heralded by the wolves Skoll, Hati and Fenrir, who will devour the Moon, the Sun, and the Gods. But Alaska's wolves are not the demons in this tale, Governor Palin. YOU ARE.

Save the Bay, and stop Aerial Gunning

Hello and welcome back. My lack of updates can only mean one thing: I'm back on dialup! It is amazing how easy highspeed makes my research. Anyhow, I'll get to the point!
Petitions are flying far and fast this time of year for some reason. Two of note, one perhaps of more interest to my fellow Marylanders (though it should be important to you all!) being a petition from Environment Maryland urging Governor O'Malley to live up to his campaign promise to protect the world's largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay. The other is a petition from Defenders of Wildlife that may help put a halt to the brutal practice of aerial gunning all together! Both very important goals.
For the Bay, unfortunately, Environment Maryland doesn't seem to have an online petition to sign, and perhaps the due date has passed (I can't find a date anywhere on the letter or envelope!) but there are many other actions you can take from their website to help protect the Bay, our countryside, even the entire country and the entire world. I urge you to check them out!
While their letter cites mostly land development along the Bay as the major threat, my personal vendetta is against the poultry factories. The Eastern Shore of the Free State is checkered with chicken farms and processing plants, and much of the waste from these facilities gets dumped straight into the Bay. The immediate result is probably a feast for blue crabs, but the chicken waste brings with it bacteria, including those that can cause flesh-eating diseases in humans. 40 some percent of the Bay becomes a 'dead zone' every year due to heavy runoff of agricultural and developmental pollutants, and more and more development grows every year. We must tell our government that we "Treasure the Chesapeake" as the license plate says, and we need to protect it!
My second petition would close a loophole in a previous Aerial Hunting law and stop the Alaskan, Wyoming, and Idaho governments from using this cruel practice to decimate their Grey Wolf population. As I've reported before, aerial gunning is the inhumane practice of chasing the animal to exhaustion with airplanes and sometimes helicopters and then shooting them, or shooting indiscriminately from the air. Not very sportsmanlike conduct if you ask me, and people do consider hunting to be a sport! Visit the Defenders of Wildlife website and sign the petition today! The goal is 40 thousand signatures by Labor Day, and we're already a third of the way there!
If nothing pressing comes up in the next week, I plan to recap my Wild Horse article. We're into roundup season now, and it is important to keep on top of things!

Keep Wolves in Yellowstone!

Hi,
I just took action to stop one of the worst wolf massacres in decades -- and I hope you will, too.
It's easy to help. Just go to the website below to take action:
http://action.defenders.org/northernrockieswolves
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to strip wolves of crucial Endangered Species Act protections in the Northern Rockies. Such a plan would allow Wyoming and Idaho to move forward with plans to eliminate as many wolves as possible within their borders.
Please help me save these magnificent animals. Tell the federal government to maintain federal protections for gray wolves by sending a message at the website below:
http://action.defenders.org/northernrockieswolves Help generate 200,000 comments to federal officials -- take action at the website above, then forward this message on to others who care about wildlife.
These wolves are in trouble. But, together, I know we can save them. I hope you'll help...
Thanks!

There, Defenders said to send it to five friends, hopefully I have reached at least that many people through this blog.

To be perfectly honest, and I love wolves, but I'm begining to feel like I'm beating a dead horse with this issue. For some reason beyond my ken wolves are one of the most revered, and most hated animals in the animal kingdom. There are people who would die to keep them, and people who would kill to be rid of them. Even if you aren't a wolf fanatic, most sane people will admit that wolves have their place in our world, just like every thing else nature has molded. Literally hundreds of thousands of people have already poured their heart and soul into pleading with officials to save wolves, be it in Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico, or Alaska. How can anyone else take what they love away from them?

Wolves are killers. They are predators of the most elite variety. Cunning. Bold. Ruthless.

But they are also animals who love and respect one another. Caring. Nuturing. Family.

Truth be told, wolves are a lot like us.

Someone said once (and of course I can't remember who) "Wolves are people too."

There you have it.

Wolves are people too.

North America's Wolves on the chopping block!

This is one of those really timely topics that always has me on edge. We have until the end of March to help put an end to aerial gunning in Alaska, as well as some Northwestern states plans to immediately eradicate wolves as soon as the government lifts the protections that have allowed wolf recovery to take place in the Rocky Mountains.

After the government and charitable organizations have spent years and uncountable (I'm sure SOMEONE is counting, but it isn't me) amounts of money attempting to insure that one of America's keystone species survives, it is completely amazing that they would then allow local government officials to expend enormous amounts of money to turn around and simply KILL the animals that others have worked so hard to save. And for absolutely, positively, No Good Reason. Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is even offering a 150 dollar bounty for wolves killed within designated 'management' zones, and also left open the possibility of allowing hunters to use not only fixed-wing aircraft but helicopters to gun the animals down, despite the fact that Alaskan voters have twice voted to restrict aerial gunning of wolves! We aren't alone in this cause, however. One of Defenders of Wildlife's generous donors has agreed to double all contributions made before 5 pm on Monday (up to 24,000 dollars.) To help halt this travesty go to Defenders' Action page and make your contribution now!

Meanwhile in the lower 48, Idaho and Wyoming are gearing up to kill 2/3 of their state's wolf populations if the government decides to reduce or remove protections placed on the animals. This means that any wolf who sets paw outside a wildlife refuge or national park in these states could be shot on sight. This is not people killing wolves in protection of themselves or even livestock. This is people killing wolves because wolves somehow offend them, and they just want them gone. Personally I equate the situation to this: the president of a home owners association spends a lot of money to advertise the benefits of living in her neighborhood, thereby attracting new home owners. Then she decides she doesn't like these new people in her neighborhood. Now these people haven't bothered her. They're just living where they should, minding their own business. But Madame President doesn't want them so much as LOOKING toward her perfectly manicured front lawn. So if one of them pokes their head out the door she shoots them! Thats exacally how insane Idaho and Wyoming's so-called wolf 'management' plans are. Not to mention that these states are also considering aerial gunning. Please continue to show your support for the Rocky Mountain grey wolf, America's iconic predator and one of the main attractions at our largest National Park, Yellowstone.

Another beauty from DCR Images. Don't let these magnificent animals be hunted and harrassed to the brink of extinction!

More beautiful artwork by Shevin. The Wolf and the Bald Eagle are icons of America.