Casper Star Tribune
August 6, 2010
At the Civil War battle of Second Manassas, Union General George Steadman allegedly prepared his troops with the following motivational speech: “Gentlemen, I want you to fight vigorously and then run for your lives. And as I am a bit lame, I am going to begin running now.”
General Steadman never made it into the ranks of great American leaders. His courage may be somewhat questionable, but he did have a fairly accurate picture of what the outcome of that battle would be for the Union forces. When it comes to the great (and seemingly endless) battle over wolf management in the Northern Rockies, let me take this opportunity to offer the possibility that it might be time to admit that our wolf plan may be a bit lame and begin running now to fix it.
In Wyoming, we’ve been pretty confident in our plan to manage wolves under our “dual status” plan. Dual status means that wolves in most of northwestern Wyoming would be managed as trophy game animals, like we do cougars and black bears. There would be management areas with hunting seasons and harvest quotas, population data collected by the Game and Fish Department, etc. In the rest of the state, they’d be managed as predators, like we do coyotes. You could shoot them, trap them, kill them any time you want with any weapon you choose. And that’s the fly in the ointment. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved plans from both Idaho and Montana to manage wolves as trophy game animals. They’ve told Wyoming that hell will freeze over before they turn over management of wolves to Wyoming as long as we have a dual status plan – or words to that effect.
Now some of my friends believe that the way to remedy this situation is to fight. Their attitude is pretty much the same as that of the President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis. In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, he said “The time for compromise has now passed, and the South is determined to maintain her position, and make all who oppose her smell Southern powder and feel Southern steel.” I admire that sort of determination, but we need to keep in mind that Davis lost the war. I like a good fight as well as the next guy, but I like them best when we can win.
We’re not going to win with a dual status plan. U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy’s decision this week returns protection under the Endangered Species Act to wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. In his decision, Molloy points out that the wolves in the three states must be managed listed as an endangered species or removed from that protection and managed by the states. The rules for managing them must be consistent from state to state. In other words, Wyoming (with about 320 wolves) is holding up delisting for Idaho (with over 800 wolves) and Montana (with over 500 wolves). If our goal is getting these critters off the endangered species list and under state control where they belong, we will not get there until Wyoming changes its plan to trophy game status statewide.
To some of my friends, I know that feels like we lose. We don’t – we win. We get state control over these animals and put them under the jurisdiction of the Game and Fish Commission where they belong. We get to move past this incredibly controversial issue and get on with the business of management of Wyoming’s wildlife by professionals, not politicians. We finally get to put aside all the rancor and anger and finger-pointing and move on to more important things like habitat and the decline of mule deer and moose and sage grouse. It’s about stopping the insanity. Immediately after the Civil War, the great Gen. Robert E. Lee said “I believe it to be the duty of everyone to unite in the restoration of the country and the reestablishment of peace and harmony.” Amen.
Walt Gasson
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