Hunter Alert

[blacktailslayer]

This thread is about the NEW interpretation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and how it may change the future of hunting; with the current wolf issue as an example.

I have learned something new today from a guy that has worked his whole life in Fish and Wildlife law and policies. He has worked 4 years for the Department of the Interior and several years in the Senate.

The Bush and Obama administration are the only administrations to let certain states de-list a species off the ESA, while keeping a species still listed in another state. An example is the wolves being de-listed in ID and MT, while still being listed in WY. As I said in my first post; a species has to go through the exact same process (mirror image) getting listed and also de-listed. The Bush and Obama administrations have interpreted the ESA as they like. There is no law that states if a species can be listed and de-listed one state at a time or if a species across the country has to be listed and de-listed all at once. The problem is that the wolves were listed under the ESA across the country as a whole. Now they are being de-listed one state at a time. This is what an organization is going to use in court about the wolves. Not only have the wolves been listed and de-listed in two different ways (from a legal stand point).

There could be good and bad from listing and de-listing by small individual regions. The good is what we have seen with the wolves. The bad can be endless. Here are some quick examples: 1. There could be no limit to boundaries. We could see species listed in single states, counties, mountains, single ridge, or even a 1 acre field. 2. If a small region in a state had poor calve elk or fawn deer recruitment; we may see them get listed under the ESA! 3. Predators impacting game herds too much? We may see game herds affected by predators get listed under the ESA!

Everyone that knows me can understand my passion for hunting and wildlife. I do kind of understand why the wolf issue should be back in the courts. Not necessarily because of the wolves themselves, but because of the way the administration wants to de-list the wolves and the possible negative outcome it could have on everyone including hunters in the future. If WY would get their act together with their wolf management plan; then all the states with wolves could have gotten de-listed at the same time. That would have kept this mess of the wolves being back in the courts here in the near future from even happening. The Bush and Obama administration is also to blame. They may however have the power to keep their own interpretation of the ESA. Time will tell. We may have to fear that if this interpretation stays; we may see unit by unit with poor game herd counts be put on the ESA. That could spell the end of hunting as we know it! Does anyone out there think we as hunters need to make a stand and push for the Obama administration to go back to the old way of listing and de-listing species? This may be exactly what the animal rights groups are looking for. I’m kind of at the middle here and would like to hear everyone’s thoughts. Please keep this thread clean and open. It could decide the future of hunting as we know it.

[blacktailslayer]

Well it looks like in my newsletter today from the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance; they claim organizations are using the ESA to stop hunting.

[buckee]

Maybe a moderator will be so kind as to clean up all the " " in your post so it is a bit easier to read.

[blacktailslayer]

Maybe a moderator will be so kind as to clean up all the " " in your post so it is a bit easier to read.

That would be great since I typed it in a WORD DOC. and then pasted it here.

[RangerClay]

Hey Blacktail, if you click on edit then backspace over each,

It will clean it up.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

The Endangered Species Act is one of the most poorly written and poorly thought out pieces of legislature to ever be written. It should have been tossed out years ago.