Downes continues hearing on Gordon's Lawsuit against the Washakie Pack

9-3-98

About a 1 1/2 weeks ago Judge Downes continued the hearing on the lawsuit brought by Steven Gordon, the owner of the Diamond G Ranch to have the Washakie Pack removed from his property.   Information about the hearing was sparse in the newspaper media.  I wrote a brief story and put a link to what I thought was a vague newspaper article.

Now there is more information. Based on an article in the Jackson Hole News and some personal interviews, here is what transpired.

Ed Bangs reported that the this pack of yearlings may have in fact disintegrated.   Two of the four remaining yearlings have radio collars. One collared wolf has been in the Thorofare. One collared wolf was tracked far away to the west of West Yellowstone, Montana. These two wolves are many miles from the Diamond G. It is not known whether the two uncollared wolves are with the wolf near West Yellowstone, in the Thorofare, back at the Diamond G, or where. On the basis of this Bangs was doubtful that these wolves would return to the Diamond G, although that could not be ruled out. He said, "The problem, of course, is that the whole trial has been about the Washakie wolves which left the ranch. So I'm not sure of the implications fo the lawsuit. I do know that there will be more wolves at the Diamond G in the future." 

Bangs speculations of more wolves was probably based on the fact that the area is prime habitat from elk, deer, antelope and moose.  It is already full of grizzly bears.

It was revealed that Gordon claims that at least 24 cattle had been killed by wolves on his property or nearby public land grazing allotment.  He has about 900 head of cattle and a grazing permit to run 795 head on 52,270 acres of the adjacent Shoshone National Forest. The area is called the Dunoir. For this he pays a total of $4391 for 795 head of cattle from June 21 to September 21. The Forest Service indicates that he grazes numbers near his allotted limit. 

Controversy over the extremely low grazing fees Congress has mandated the Forest Service and BLM charge public lands grazers has been growing in the West. Some groups have sought to pay more than small sum ranchers are charged and instead of grazing cows, rest the land, but their efforts have been rebuffed by politicians subservient to the cattle industry. Forest Service range specialist Brad Russell of the Shoshone National Forests' Wind River Ranger District said that one justification of these low grazing fees is due to the fact the cows must share the range with predators and some losses are expected to occur.  In addition, Gordon was also paid about $5000 from the private reimbursement program run by Defenders of Wildlife for his verified wolf-caused losses.

Since the four wolves left the Diamond G after their mother and one of their siblings was shot by Wildlife Services (formerly Animal Damage Control), the Diamond G claims three more calves had been killed. However, there was a delay in reporting these losses so when biologists arrived the evidence that could serve to verify the cause of the deaths had disappeared. Bangs was quoted, "The Ranch believes they've lost cattle, but they reported it so late that we didn't even get up there to look."

I have heard it is very difficult for biologists to get to the Diamond G because the owner of the ranch downstream from the Diamond G won't let any government personnel or the public cross his ranch. The rancher Phillip Cross has a gate and a sign "trespassers will be shot; survivors will be shot again."  I had heard this from two people, but now the Jackson Hole News has confirmed it.  As a result, not to cause a confrontation, U.S. government personnel go a long way around and use a rough, closed former timber road to investigate complaints at the Diamond G.

Judge Downes apparently was reported as frustrated by this case due to lack of knowledge where the wolves are and the late reporting of supposed wolf depredations by the Diamond G.

He will hear closing arguments on September 9.

For information, Downes is the judge who ruled the wolf reintroductions to Yellowstone and central Idaho in 1995 and 1996 were violations of the endangered species act. Last December he ordered all of the wolves and their offspring removed, but stayed his order pending appeals to the Tenth Circuit Court. The Court is expected to hear these appeals about next March. Steven Gordon's lawsuit asks the government to remove all introduced wolves and their offspring from his property and the Dunoir, and for the government to ensure that wolves do not return

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