Anti-wolfers get nastier still12-17-97
Fresh from their court victory, anti-wolf ranchers, groups and politicians are pressing on. Montana's lone U.S. Representative Rick Hill asked that all funding for the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop all funding for the wolf recovery program pending the outcome to the lawsuit appeal. Hill made an exception for situations that involve wolves and livestock.
He was quoted as saying, ''With a program being found illegal by a federal judge, I believe expansion would be unfair to those negatively impacted by past introduction efforts." Hill also praised the judge's decision. ''The court's decision is a victory for Montana's farmers and ranchers who claimed their interests were being ignored in the process."
Meanwhile, in Missoula the first congressional hopeful to challenge Hill has emerged. Robert "Dusty" Deschamps announced Tuesday. Deschamps is a rancher. He said nothing about wolves in his announcement. He emphasizing his ties to Montana and said Hill was an outsider. Hill moved to Montana from Minnesota in 1971. Republican Hill has had low ratings in Montana public opinion poll.s
The wolves were reintroduced after over a hundred hearings nationwide, with many in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
Meanwhile in Kalispell, Montana (NW Montana) where the wolves are all native and supposedly fully protected under the ESA -- the wolves Judge Downes said were getting less protection under the experimental reintroduction rule -- head of the wolf recovery for US Fish and Wildlife Service Ed Bangs was badgered by ranchers.
According to the Billings Gazette, Bangs was jeered by ranchers for two hours. The ranchers wanted more compensation for wolf-killed livestock, and indicated that more is killed than the Service and Defenders of Wildlife says. Failure to find the a dead livestock didn't mean the wolves were innocent according to ranchers attending.
The ranchers wanted every wolf radio-collared, and more and quicker information given to landowners when wolves were in the area. The crowd, however, refused to support additional funding for the wolf program which Bangs said was necessary to do what they requested.
As the groups that support wolf recovery were announcing that they would appeal Judge Downes decision, the Wyoming Farm Bureau announced they would be in the U.S. Court of Appeals defending it. Larry Bourret, executive vice president of the Wyoming Farm Bureau said the Farm Bureau would be in court defending the decision.
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