Op-Ed: Wolves, Stop the Insanity

Op-Ed: “Wolves – Stop the Insanity”
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

D.C. Trip

July 26, 2010 – I’m in the airport this morning, on my way to Washington, DC. We thought it might be kind of interesting for our readers to follow the action as the country boy goes to Washington. I’m going to lobby on behalf of some energy legislation that sportsmen have a big stake in. The whole thing is being organized by an outfit called Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development (SFRED). It’s a good outfit. We’ve worked with them on a host of different issues, and they’re a great partner. If you’d like to know more about them, check out their website at http://www.sportsmen4responsibleenergy.org/.

I might as well be upfront about this from the get-go. There are a lot of people who don’t like this sort of duty. They don’t like talking to people, pushing a position. They especially don’t like Washington, DC. They don’t like the urban atmosphere, the hustle and bustle. And they really don’t like going to DC in the summertime. If you’ve never done that, here’s how it goes: Put on a suit and tie and the most uncomfortable shoes you own. Cinch that tie up nice and tight so you look sharp. Find a steambath, and step in. Crank it up to about 110 degrees and 100 percent humidity. There you have it.

I’m not one of those people. I have no explanation for this, but I love the nation’s capital. Even in July. It’s a beautiful city, a magnificent city, and it’s full of people who are trying to do the right thing for wildlife and for us in Wyoming if we give them half a chance. I like the excitement, the history and the sense of being where history is made. It’s crazy, but the same guy who loves the Red Desert and the Wind Rivers and the Wyoming Range can actually get off the airplane at Reagan National and feel pretty much at home. Go figure.

I’ll be reporting in periodically over the next three days, so stay tuned. It’s going to be interesting.

(Later) The Domino Theory

I have a theory about airline travel. IF one thing goes wrong – if that first domino falls – everything goes in the dumper after that. This isn’t a travel blog, so I won’t bore you with the details. But suffice it to say that my flight out of Cheyenne was exactly two hours late leaving. That was the first domino. That meant that I missed my flight out of Denver, which meant that I had to catch a different flight through Chicago O’Hare, which meant that I got to DC at 9 PM instead of 4 PM. Here’s me, enjoying some luxury travel:

July 27, 2010 – Up with the sun this morning at 5:30 AM Eastern – that would be 3:30 AM back home. Worked out and put on a suit for a day of meetings. We planned strategy over breakfast at the hotel. This SFRED bunch are just great. We have some experienced hands like Kendall Van Dyk and Brad Powell and Keith Curley with TU. We also have some very dedicated sportsmen like Pat Newell from Green River. Here’s a photo of Keith and Lane Larsen from Montana at our planning session this morning:

This morning, we met with staff from the office of Rep. Dean Heller from NV. The topic here is a bill that Rep. Heller is co-sponsoring that would help the renewable energy industry get off to a smart start in the West. It sets aside some high value wildlife habitats and establishes a fund to help states deal with the impacts to wildlife associated with development of wind, solar, etc. I see this as a really important bill. I’d love to see us be in a better position with wind energy development in Wyoming than we’ve been with gas development. It’s clear this bill will help.

After lunch, we met with Senator Reid’s staff to discuss the bill. Sen. Reid (D – NV) is one of the primary sponsors of the bill, and that’s a good thing. He’s a very powerful senator, and having his support means a lot. I mentioned to them that they weren’t just in this for Nevada. States all over the interior west are being overwhelmed with demands for renewable energy development on public lands. There’s a lot to be gained by this development. There’s a lot to lose, as well. And sportsmen like us are in a good position to offer good balanced thoughts on how we can best move forward with development while not losing our wildlife heritage. I think these folks actually value our input.

After that meeting I headed back to the hotel to stay in touch with this blog. That means having to actually find your way around Capitol Hill without a guide. I’d be better able to do that almost anyplace in the Wyoming back country, but we managed to find the hotel without any problems. Here’s yours truly en route:

July 28, 2010 – This is probably a good time to talk about my partner in this effort. Meet Pat Newell:

Pat’s a guy from Green River, and a hard core fisherman. He’s a hard core worker, too. He’s currently the Conservation Chairman for the Flaming Gorge/Lower Green River Chapter of Trout Unlimited. He’s been huge in the effort to protect Little Mountain down there, and he’s been involved in more volunteer efforts to improve fisheries in southwest Wyoming than I can count. He’s been a particularly important part of this effort, since he’s not a paid employee of a conservation group like me. He took time off from work to come here and lobby this bill. He’s just a heck of a guy.

Today, Pat and I will be meeting with staff from the offices of the entire Wyoming delegation. We’re looking forward to seeing them, and hoping they’ll be interested in the bill we’re supporting.

(Later) It’s been a great day. We started it off with a visit to Re. Cynthia Lummis’ office. No sooner than I walked through the door, there she was. I hadn’t seen Rep. Lummis for some time, and we chatted for a bit about some upcoming events and the weather. As always, she’s a gracious lady. We met with Pete Obermueller, the legislative director on her staff. Pete’s a good guy – he’s from Casper – and he was interested in the bill we presented to him. The fact that we had a western Republican backing the bill probably didn’t hurt anything. We tried to emphasize a couple of things:

-This bill is about public lands, and doesn’t impact anyone’s private property rights;

-It addresses the potential loss of hunting and fishing on those public lands, which is so important; and

-It sets up a fund to mitigate the impacts of renewable energy development on public lands, something that will be needed as wind development goes forward in Wyoming.

Pete listened, asked questions and seemed genuinely appreciative that we had come all the way from Wyoming to talk with him about it. We enjoyed meeting with him.

The next stop on the agenda was Sen. Enzi’s office. I’d been looking forward to this one, since I know Chris Tomassi, the legislative assistant over there. Chris is from Kemmerer, and he’s the grandson of Louis Tomassi, a guy I always enjoyed working with in the Wyoming legislature. He was joined by Clint Lohse. Clint’s from Kaycee – actually Sussex, a suburb of Kaycee – and we have some mutual friends in that part of the world. These guys are really sharp young men and they were quick to ask great questions about the bill. Again, it was a great visit.

The final stop on our tour was Sen. Barasso’s office. We met with Shea Loper, the senator’s energy policy advisor. Since Sen. Barasso’s successful sponsorship of the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, we’ve appreciated his willingness to hear our views on balancing energy development and conservation. Shea was interested and very willing to listen. I appreciated that.

It took all morning, and once we were out in the sun again, I quickly appreciated air conditioning. We walked back to the hotel, had some lunch at one of my favorite restaurants – the Dubliner. I had a softshell crab sandwich. I love these things – they look like a deep-fried tarantula, but they’re fabulous. Then it was time to catch the Metro at Union Station and head for the airport.

(A lot later) We’re in the air and headed for home now. It was a good trip, and I think we did our best to represent the members of TU and WWF when it comes to renewable energy development in Wyoming. There’s no way to know what will happen to this bill, but it’s good to know that the folks you elected are willing to visit with you and to listen to what’s on your mind.

I don’t come to DC very often. But I think it’s important that we do this when we can. The fact is that there are things that happen here that can have a big impact on wildlife and wildlife habitat in Wyoming. Wind energy development is one of those. I’m grateful to SFRED for organizing this effort, and I’m especially grateful to Pat and TU for their work on it. We’ll keep an eye on this bill and keep you informed. As for me, I think it’s about time to check the insides of my eyelids. It’s gonna be late by the time I get home tonight!

Walt Gasson
Executive Director, Wyoming Wildlife Federation