Tremendous legal victory for wolves in Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area!

Tremendous legal victory for wolves in Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area!

Judge Winmill fully protects SNRA wolves from government killing for a second year

April 4, 2003, updates April 10

Folks will remember this victory from last year, but unfortunately the legal victory came after all the SNRA wolves had been "control" killed. Only one wolf was known to be in the SNRA last summer and fall and protected by Judge Winmill's ruling.
This spring things are different, as many as three new packs could form, although I'd bet more on just one. Finally wolves will be restored again to the heart of Idaho.

News Release:

Federal Court Expands Order to Protect Wolves in Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area

Federal District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill on Thursday renewed an injunction that fully protects wolves on public lands in Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area for a second consecutive grazing season even if predations of livestock by wolves occur in the SNRA.
Winmill also clarified the injunction sought by Western Watersheds Project and the Idaho Conservation League to include protection of wolves on private lands in the SNRA.
Furthermore, at the request of WWP and ICL, the judge accelerated by three years the U.S. Forest Service's schedule for environmental analyses of livestock grazing allotments in the SNRA. The analyses will ultimately determine whether grazing must be reduced or discontinued because of adverse effects on wildlife in the SNRA.
"Judge Winmill's decision is a great one for wolves and a necessary one for the Forest Service, which clearly needs this kind of direction to do its job," said Jon Marvel, executive director of WWP.
While the court decision stops short of prohibiting grazing on allotments, it sends a clear reminder to the Forest Service and livestock operators in the SNRA: "Wolves will not be killed, even when sheep or cattle occupy their habitat and pay the price," in Marvel's words.
"Since last year's ruling, it's been business as usual for the Forest Service," said Justin Hayes, program director of ICL. "The agency has changed nothing. With another grazing season approaching, we had no choice but to ask the court again to prevent the killing of wolves in the SNRA."
Under Winmill's latest ruling, the Forest Service must complete by Sept. 30 the first of three environmental analyses of grazing allotments in the SNRA. The agency must complete two other evaluations before the 2004 and 2005 grazing seasons, respectively. In his initial ruling in July 2002, Winmill cited Forest Service "violations" in its management of wolves in the SNRA. That decision sought to strike "a proper balance" between "the primacy of the value of wildlife" under the Organic Act and the "conditional value" of livestock grazing.
Winmill ruled that the Forest Service, which manages the SNRA, violated the Organic Act that created the area by failing to consider whether livestock grazing is "substantially impairing" wolf populations. He added that the Organic Act does not include grazing as a "historic" or "pastoral" value.
The renewed injunction continues to bind not only the Forest Service but also the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in protecting wolf populations in the SNRA.
Despite the presence of wolves in the area, some 4,470 sheep and 2,500 cattle are allowed to graze on 28 Forest Service allotments in the SNRA.
"Wolves are an important part of how nature is supposed to work in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area," said Laird Lucas of Advocates for the West, representing WWP and ICL. "They could draw thousands of people to Idaho to see them, as they do in Yellowstone. The injunction against killing wolves in the SNRA will help restore the ecosystem while jump-starting the economy in central Idaho."
For readers interested, Judge Winmill's decision can be downloaded as a pdf file from the following Idaho Federal Court web site: http://www.id.uscourts.gov/wconnect/wc.dll?usdc_racer~get_case_jb~4:1-cv-389~~All+Documents~on~PUID=RESTRICTED
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Here is the story from 2002:
"Judge rules for wolves over livestock grazing on the Sawtooth National Recreation Area"
Update 4-10-03-
The news release that comprised most of the story failed to mention Lynne Stone and the Boulder White Clouds Council. Stone and the BWCC spent untold hours on the ground working to save wolves in the SNRA. She wrote a 20 page declaration on the sad history of wolves in the SNRA for the Court.
Her contribution should be recognized.
If you haven't seen the BWCC web page, please visit
http://www.wildwhiteclouds.org/index.html"
These good folks could use a contribution so their on the ground work can continue.
Recognition also goes to Roy Hebeger, who managed wolves for USFWS in Idaho, for his several written declarations to the Court. Roy was directly managing the wolves while the Forest Service stood inert and useless Roy's knowledge of the facts added greatly to the case.
Upon his retirement, Heberger was replaced by Carter Niemeyer.

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"Reaction to Judge Winmill's decision." By Todd Adams. Challis Messenger. April 10, 2003

"Judge bans wolf control but speeds up grazing analyses." by Todd Adams. Challis Messenger. April 10, 2003. This is a most important outcome of the wolf case because is speaks to the root causes of the conflict between livestock, wolves, and other wildlife in the SNRA.

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Ralph Maughan PO Box 8264, Pocatello, ID 83209