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Montana Gov OKs Shooting Endangered Wolves

Brian Schweitzer says gray wolf population has fully recovered

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 18, 2011 8:44 AM CST

(Newser) – Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has all but declared open season on gray wolves, ordering wildlife officers not to investigate or prosecute ranchers who shoot the endangered animals to protect their livestock, CNN reports. He’s also directed them to kill entire packs if they endanger the state’s elk or livestock. Schweitzer, a Democrat, revealed his plan in a defiant letter to Ken Salazar on Wednesday, arguing that Montana’s wolf population had “fully recovered.”

“I am profoundly frustrated,” Schweitzer wrote. “I cannot continue to ignore the crying need for workable wolf management while Montana waits, and waits, and waits.” The Interior Department responded by saying that, though wolf management should be turned over to states, “the governor’s letter is not the answer.” Last week, Montana’s US Senators introduced a bill to take gray wolves off the endangered species list. (Click for more on an animal on South Dakota's kill list: bison.)

This undated handout photo provided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service shows a gray wolf.
This undated handout photo provided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service shows a gray wolf.   (AP Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,file)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 49 comments
wcywing
Feb 18, 2011 5:59 PM CST
for all you wolf lovers out there, how would you feel if you hear wolves, see wolves 100 feet from you house? do any of you live out in the wilderness/country or do you live in the city? just giving a different perspective. should endangered species be protected? yes. are wolves endangered? no. they are Least concern, based on the IUCN. btw they kill more dogs than Vick ever will.
fractal
Feb 18, 2011 2:44 PM CST
A cow lost here and there from a wolf is no different than losing a cow to weather and disease---it happens. Wolves also eat vermin, and when we lose our top predators, bad things happen to the eco-balance. I say just factor in the loss, and let the price of beef go up a few cents.
Rocky0701
Feb 18, 2011 1:16 PM CST
Another sad story for creatures who are supposed to be able to roam their lands like nature intended them to. Uncaring humans again; use the easy way out of solving a problem and give permission to those trigger happy individuals to start hunting an animal that cannot fight back against a weapon. Hunting would be a sport if the animal could also defend itself. Sad days will come when the grandchildren of Montana Governor Schweitzer will ask what a gray wolf looked like. Maybe someone can tell them that it was their inhumane grandfather who did away with all of them. Just because the wolf population is at a safe number doesn't mean that killing them won't plummet the numbers again. These wolves also have to dodge vehicles; disease and starvation and ON TOP OF THIS THEY NOW HAVE TO DEAL WITH HUNTERS. Sad days......ahead for Earth.
US • Green

 
endangered species • Montana • livestock • Department of the Interior • Ken Salazar • gray wolf • Brian Schweitzer

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