New Montana Sportsmen’s Organization May Not Be Exactly What They Claim

This is the day that the USFWS threw sound wildlife management right out the door…and released the first of those Canadian wolves into the Greater Yellowstone Area.  Some radical environmentalists call the Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Project a great conservation success story…those who have witnessed the loss of game and the damage wolves are now doing to livestock production call it something else – THE GREATEST WILDLIFE DISASTER OF OUR LIFETIMES!

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MONTANA HUNTERS AND ANGLERS ACTION

With the national elections now less than a year away, most of us really expected the campaign mudslinging to shift into high gear. Here in Montana, we will elect a new Governor in November 2012, and there will be a lot of jockeying for the state senator and state representative seats. However, the most hotly contested spot in Montana politics will likely be for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator Jon Tester. His primary opponent is current U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg.

The mud is already flying in this battle. And leading the charge against Rehberg is the most unlikely group, calling itself Montana Hunters and Anglers Action.

So, just who is Montana Hunters and Anglers Action? Well, a lot of this state’s sportsmen have been asking themselves that very question. Those who hunt here have watched the quality of the big game hunting in western Montana disintegrate, from some of the best in North America to some of the absolute worst – thanks to a wolf experiment gone wrong. Likewise, many of this state’s fishermen are less than thrilled by fisheries management, especially in some large lakes where an all out effort is being made to destroy thriving lake trout populations, to make room for more of the native bull trout – a fish which many fishermen feel is the trout equivalent of the carp.

Are these some of the issues that concern those making up the 501 (c) (4) not-for-profit Montana Hunters and Anglers Action? Apparently not, their agenda is far more political. Currently, this new group is making an all out attack on Congressman Rehberg’s support of H.R. 1505, legislation which would provide stronger security of America’s borders. The television ad many have gotten tired of listening to calls the bill the “Rehberg Land Grab”, claiming that sportsmen could be shut out of nearly a third of Montana’s public lands.

Chuck Cushman, Director of American Land Rights, says, “A bureaucratic turf war between federal employees is putting national security and private property at risk. H.R. 1505 ends the turf war by giving border patrol agents access to the border on federal lands to do their job. But radical environmentalists who don’t support private property or secure borders are up in arms because this law prioritizes national security over their pet environmental laws.”

Could Montana Hunters and Anglers Action be simply a front for what is really just another radical environmental group? A group with a political agenda? Let’s take a look at those who head this pseudo sportsmen’s organization.

The Director of Montana Hunters and Anglers Action is George Cooper, a senior vice president of a major political lobbying group in Washington, D.C. The President of this sportsmen’s group in Land Tawney, who also happens to sit on the Montana Sportsmen for Obama Committee, and is a member of Senator Jon Tester’s Sportsmen’s Advisory Panel. Elected state senator Kendall Van Dyke (D-Billings) serves as the group’s Secretary, and also sits on the Montana Sportsmen for Obama Committee. Treasurer Barrett Kaiser is a former staffer for Senator Max Baucus, and served as a consultant to Senator Tester’s 2006 campaign.

Theirs is truly a politically driven agenda. But what could be the motivation of a “sportsmen’s organization” which seems to ignore issues which are truly impacting the quality of hunting and fishing in Montana?

Tiptoe through the Montana Hunters and Anglers Action website at http://www.montanahuntersandanglers.org and it does not take long to realize that this group is all about wilderness. This state is very blessed to have the truly wild places we have. But there are those who feel that we need even more “wilderness” areas. One extremely radical agenda, known as the Wildlands Network, would turn approximately half of the U.S. into wilderness areas or into “Wildlands Corridors”, providing connective passageways for wildlife from one area to another. Part of that big scheme would be to establish what has been dubbed the “Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative”. This would turn much of western Montana and most of northern Idaho, plus a good share of western Canada, into one huge wild corridor…where human activities would be severely curtailed or eliminated. And dozens of environmental organizations are collaborating to see this through by chipping away at “public use” of “public land”.

Now, a secure border between the U.S. and Canada would kind of throw a wrench into those plans…wouldn’t it? Could it be that opposition to H.R. 1505 by those of Montana Hunters and Anglers Action is due to their zest to “re-wild” the American West? Or does their political agenda go even deeper, with an all out effort to see that Denny Rehberg is not elected to the U.S. Senate?

“These groups will stop at nothing to misrepresent this good law as something it is not, and they’ve already spent a quarter of a million dollars in Montana to spread their lies. If you support private property, and if you support secure national borders, you should support H.R. 1505,” claims Chuck Cushman of American Land Rights.

He says that Montana Hunters and Anglers Action is a fake group, established to confuse Montana voters and defeat Denny Rehberg. – Toby Bridges, LOBO WATCH

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks In Dire Need Of New Calculators!

I have no doubt that there are plenty of knowledgeable wildlife managers and biologists working with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Some are surely well versed in most things which positively or negatively affect big game numbers. But after clashing with a few FWP regional managers and biologists, I’ve come to realize that just about everyone at FWP who I’ve been in contact with truly sucks at math. When it comes to their numbers, their percentages, their projections, their calculations, and just about everything and anything else requiring some degree of mathematics…MT FWP’s numbers simply do not add up.

At one county commissioner meeting (on predator control) in Ravalli County, MT FWP Region 2 Wildlife Manager Mike Thompson actually tried to present “wolf math” without using any numbers whatsoever. Using the chalk board in the meeting room, he drew base lines and growth curves, throwing in projected decline curves in an attempt to show those attending where the wolf population was…is now…the probable growth rate…and the drop in the wolf population should this year’s wolf quota be filled. And other than the verbal use of the “220” quota for the season that’s now underway, no other numbers were used, implied, and especially not written on the graph Thompson shared. The result looked a lot like something Picasso may have sketched at the height of a drunken “stooper”[sic]!

Mike Thompson was quick to erase his masterpiece of deception before sitting down.

FWP has become well known for its “voodoo math” and biased pie charts and graphs which have thrown up a smoke and mirrors cover up for the REAL wolf numbers in this state, and to hide the degree of damage wolves have dealt our big game populations. And when concerned sportsmen, economically impacted livestock producers, and living scared rural residents have the opportunity to call their hand when it comes to FWP’s lack of REAL numbers, the citizens of this state who are being severely impacted by growing wolf and grizzly bear numbers are no longer backing down.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the agency is now realizing that what WE SEE and what THEY CLAIM are not adding up.

I received an e-mail from one LOBO WATCH follower yesterday (November 3) in regard to a meeting he attended in Kalispell the evening before. At that meeting, FWP Region 1 Wildlife Manager Jim Williams told those in the audience that in just that region they now acknowledge 44 wolf packs, averaging 7 wolves per pack. Now, just a few seconds on a calculator reveals that the “pack population” of wolves in that region adds up to 308 wolves.

But, what about the wolves that do not run with a known pack?

MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks…ID Department of Fish and Game…and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have, since the launch of the disaster known as the Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Plan, have tended to only recognize a “pack” as a group of wolves with a breeding pair. These agencies have recognized that there are likely as many or more groups of wolves without a breeding pair – and these wolves tend to be forgotten when these “experts” determine the “at least” numbers they throw around as if they are the REAL number of wolves. The last “at least” number I saw for Montana was 637 (I believe).

Come on FWP…REALLY?

Let’s say that Jim Williams is correct about the 44 packs…and 7 wolves per pack…count in Region 1. Now add to that the “probably at least” additional non-pack wolves. Let’s say an average of 3.5 wolves per group. And to be fair, let’s say there are “at least” as many non-breeding groups as there are “breeding packs”. That would add another 154 wolves to the equation.

Then, we have the lone wolves. Over the past 12 months, I personally have seen 17 wolves. Five of those wolves were as alone as a wolf can get. One was down near Dillon, out in the middle of a huge open flat…and there was not another living thing within 2 or 3 miles of that wolf. Another loner I spotted worked the entire side of a fairly open mountain slope for nearly an hour, while I watched from across a wide valley. There was not another wolf with it. I’m sure we would be a lot closer than FWP’s assessment of lone wolf numbers by saying that in Region 1 there is “at least” 40.

Now, if we add those numbers up, we come up with a “probably at least” Region 1 wolf population of 502 wolves, +/- 2%.

Now, if there is a like number of wolves in Region 2 and in Region 3, plus allowing for wolves in at least half of Region 4 and Region 5, and a few in Regions 6 & 7, there is a very, very good chance that the REAL number of wolves in Montana is more like 1,900 to 2,000.  And that’s a far cry from the “at least” 637 being touted by MT FWP earlier this year.

Wolves are not the only thing that FWP seems to have severely miscounted.  At that same Kalispell meeting, FWP Regional Wildlife Manager Jim Williams also told those attending that in Region 1 alone, there are now right at 1,000 grizzly bears.  Wait a minute, hasn’t FWP been claiming there were “at least” something like 800 of the big bears in the entire state?  What gives?

Yes, perhaps it is time that FWP added another slip of paper for our wallets, to go with the licenses and permits we buy, along with the conservation license and hunting access enhancement fees for which we fork out more dollars.  That new slip of paper could possibly be called “Game Numbers Assessment Enhancement”…and the money used to buy every FWP manager, biologist and officer in the field a new calculator…a note pad…and maybe one of them fancy space pens that writes upside down, under water and when temperatures get down to -60 degrees.  –  Toby Bridges, LOBO WATCH

Candidates Running For Election On The 2012 “Wolf Ticket”

Following the big game herds, which have abandoned much of the high country to move into human inhabitated valleys, the wolves are now coming into back yards and into town – and the residents of the Northern Rockies are now pressuring politicians to resolve the problem. 

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It becomes more and more evident every day that Montanans have had their fill of the wildlife conservation experiment gone bad known as the “Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Project”. Back seven or eight years ago, there were still plenty who supported bringing wolves back into the wilds of this state, and any discussion about wolves often resulted in something of a debate, often getting very heated. On one side, there were those staunch liberal environmentalists who felt the ecosystem needed balanced, by bringing back a major predator. On the other side were those who enjoyed the vast array and abundance of wildlife, along with those who ranched or made their living off the land. They saw no need for a predator as destructive as the wolf. Still, pro-wolf advocates continued to claim that wolves would be good for the environment, making the ecosystem stronger and healthier.

Unfortunately, things have not quite worked out that way. Wolves have not followed the script written for them by academic type new wave wildlife managers and biologists trying to write their own chapter in wildlife management. In fact, growing wolf numbers have had just the opposite effect on wildlife populations. Once great elk herds, like the northern Yellowstone herd, the Lolo herd, the West Fork of the Bitterroot herd, and others are now a mere fraction, maybe 25-percent, or what they were when wolves were first released into the Greater Yellowstone Area. While all the damage cannot be blamed on wolves, with growing numbers of bears and mountain lions also making a severe impact, wolves are the primary reason for the dramatic decline of elk, moose, deer and other big game populations all along the northern Rockies of Montana.

With the loss of game, growing and spreading wolf numbers are now turning more and more to livestock, and ranchers are feeling the loss as well. Many elk no longer return to the high country, choosing to live close to smaller communities and ranch sites, where the presence of people reduces the chances of the animals being pursued by packs of wolves. However, that’s even failing to make a difference these days. Wolves have followed the game, and are now ever more present in human inhabited areas. Wolf-killed whitetail deer…fresh wolf scat…and 6-inch long wolf tracks have been found and photographed right in or adjacent to the city limits of Missoula. Wolves are now being seen, or felt, in areas where the “experts” who came up with the Wolf Recovery Plan once claimed the wolves would not inhabit. And that has residents more concerned than ever about the safety of their families and pets.

Public opinion polls, conducted the past year or so by television stations and newspapers around the state, reveal that close to 80-percent of Montana’s residents now want more stringent wolf control. They want a significant number of wolves eliminated, allowing game numbers to return, and wolf related depredation of livestock lessened. In the same light, they want the fear of wolves showing up in their back yards to be properly addressed by the politicians they elect to office, and they want that concern alleviated.

Most residents of Montana, and in the wolf country of Idaho and Wyoming for that matter, have absolutely no faith in state and federal agencies to resolve the wolf problem. Many are now putting a great deal of pressure on local, county and district politicians to come up with some answers, some solutions.

Such wants, needs and fears of the public were very evident during Montana’s 62nd Legislative sessions this past winter and spring. A number of bills were introduced which addressed wolf and other predator issues, or were strongly tied to predator losses. One dark cloud that hangs over any state taking care of problems created by wolves and grizzly bears is the Endangered Species Act. Both wolves and grizzlies have been federally protected, literally taking the right to manage their numbers away from the state. State politicians who represent the citizens of this state went as far as to introduce a bill that would claim state’s rights, and nullify the Endangered Species Act in Montana. That bill passed through the House of Representatives with a 61-39 vote. But this bill, and others which would have worked in the direction of the state taking full charge of managing (or controlling) all predators, endangered or not, in the end did not make the final vote, or were vetoed by the governor.

One bill in particular was drafted solely to authorize stringent control of wolves – S.B. 414, also known as the “Montana Wolf Control Act”.

 The bill, introduced by MT Senator Chas Vincent (R-Libby), addresses how the 566 wolves claimed to be in Montana by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks in 2009 was nothing more than a “minimum estimate” – and that the true number of wolves in the state was believed to be far greater. S.B. 414 also points out… “wolves have had and are having an unacceptable negative impact on game herds, hunting opportunities, livestock production, the health and safety of people engaged in outdoor work and recreation in Montana, and the Montana economy.” The legislation goes on to establish that… “the United States is responsible for injuries caused by federally released wolves in Montana, including but not limited to the loss of game animals, livestock, or pets, other injuries to animals, injuries to persons working or recreating in the state, and economic injuries to the people of the state.”

During the first House reading of this bill, on April 12, it was defeated by the narrow vote of 49 “Yeas” and 51 “Nays”. This so irritated those already angered over the unnecessary devastation of wildlife and damage to the state’s livestock industry, that those legislators who voted against the bill were inundated by e-mails, electronic messages and phone calls, and on April 13 the House held a reconsideration vote. This time S.B. 414 received 62 “Yeas” and 38 “Nays”. However, when it went to the next reading, the vote narrowed to 53 “Yeas” to 47 “Nays”.

During the final reading, the Montana Wolf Control Act failed to make the grade – losing to a vote with 54 against the bill and 45 for the bill, with one vote excused. When time is taken to analyze how the different state representatives voted on this bill, it’s easy to determine which of those members of the House are totally out of touch with the wants and needs of an extremely outdoor oriented populace.

Those who voted against S.B. 414 straight across the board in all four votes were MT. State Representatives: Dick Barrett (D-Missoula); Tony Belcourt (D-Box Elder); Bryce Bennett (D-Missoula); Carlie Boland (D-Great Falls); Pat Connell (R-Hamilton); Virginia Court (D-Billings); Robyn Driscoll (D-Billings); Ron Ehli (R-Hamilton); Tim Furey (D-Milltown); Steve Gibson (R-E. Helena); Edward Greef (R-Florence); Betsy Hands (D-Missoula); Ellie Boldman Hill (D-Missoula); Cynthia Hiner (D-Deer Lodge); Brian Hoven (R-Great Falls); Chuck Hunter (D-Helena); Margaret MacDonald (D-Billings); Gary MacLaren (R-Victor); Sue Malek (D-Missoula); Bill McChesney (D-Miles City); Edith McClafferty (D-Butte); Mary McNally (D-Billings); Robert Mehlhoff (D-Great Falls); Mike Menahan (D-Helena); Pat Noonan (D-Ramsay); Mike Phillips (D-Bozeman); Jean price (D-Great Falls); Michelle Reinhart (D-Missoula); Diane Sands (D-Missoula); Trudi Schmidt (D-Great Falls); Jon Sesso (D-Butte); Frank Smith (D-Poplar); Carolyn Squires (D-Missoula); Kathleen Williams (D-Bozeman); and Franke Wilmer (D-Bozeman).

The 36 Representatives who voted “Nay” with every vote on S.B. 414 included 30 Democrats and 6 Republicans.

When pressured by their constituents to reconsider their “Nay” votes during the first reading of the bill, the following 13 legislators changed their votes to “Yea”: Duane Ankney (R-Colstrip); Liz Bangerter (R-Helena); Rob Cook (R-Conrad); Steve Fitzpatrick (R-Great Falls); Kelly Flynn (R-Townsend); Galen Hollenbaugh (D-Helena); Walter McNut (R-Sidney); Mike Milburn (R-Cascade); Mike Miller (R-Helmville); Ken Peterson (R-Billings); Sterling Small (R-Busby); Wayne Stahl (R-Saco); and Max Yates (R-Butte).

Of those 13 who felt the wrath of the citizens they represent, and changed their vote in support of S.B. 414, 12 were Republican, and only 1 was Democrat. However, when it came down to the final vote on this bill, during the last reading, just three of these representatives stayed true to the wishes of their constituents – Kelly Flynn, Mike Milburn and Sterling Small. The other 10 found reason, personal or otherwise, to go back to their original “Nay” vote.

Many of these politicians will be running for re-election in November 2012. It’s a good bet that those sportsmen, ranchers and outdoor enthusiasts who have been negatively impacted by wildlife losses to wolves will remember who voted against their wishes when it’s time to mark the ballot.

One race which could be dictated by the 2012 “Wolf Ticket” will be the election of a new governor. Many Montana residents feel our current governor has done little to tackle the issue. To many, it seems as if he runs scared of the federal government, afraid they will cut off funding for this or that should the state stand its ground and proclaim… “No More!” That’s especially true when the topic turns to wolves, and strong wolf control.

The sportsmen of Montana have lost all faith in Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Over and over again, sportsmen and sportsmen organizations have caught the agency downright lying about wolf numbers and the degree of damage wolves have dealt wildlife populations. One recent example is how FWP commented to the state’s media about how the opening weekend of the 2011 general elk and deer season was about on par with the “past 5 year average”. Strangely enough, in 2009, it was acknowledged that the harvest in Region 2 was down 45- to 50-percent from that same 5 year average. Until last year (2010), “opening weekend” was simply just the first Sunday, since the season opened on Sunday. Now, the agency is comparing hunter take to a two-day weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and the best they can claim is that it is “about on par” with the past 5 year average.

It is this kind of smoke and mirrors cover up which leads the sportsmen who provide the financial support for MT FWP to realize that the agency is no longer being straight forward with them. A growing number of those who spend a great deal of time in the outdoors have grown increasingly disgusted in the manner in which FWP tends to ignore what hunters, fishermen and other outdoor recreationalists tell them about what they see – and don’t see. What they’re seeing are far more wolves, far more wolf sign, and far more dead wildlife due to wolf depredation. What they are not seeing are the record numbers of elk and other game which MT FWP keeps touting.

Governor Brian Schweitzer has final say so in FWP policy. If the cover up of wolf depredation and the true number of wolves in the state is now standard FWP operating procedure, then the governor is behind it 100-percent.

What many Montana sportsmen do not know is that MT FWP has become an active participant in an extremely radical environmental project – known as “The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative”. This pipedream, by a long list of environmental groups and organizations, is to establish a near humanless corridor running from the Greater Yellowstone Area, up through most of western Montana and Idaho, across southern Canada, all the way to the Arctic regions of the Yukon Territories. Those who reside inside the planned corridor would be forced off the land; infrastructure, such as highways, bridges, and cities would be removed; plus access and human use of this corridor would be extremely restricted. The list of “collaborators” includes not only MT FWP, but also the University of Montana – Missoula and Montana State University – Bozeman. The two schools of higher learning are well known for their education of future wildlife managers and biologists – who are trying to rewrite wildlife conservation.

Also on that list of “collaborators” are extreme anti-hunting organizations, such as the Defenders of Wildlife, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and the Natural Resources Council. Another collaborator is the Wildlands Network, which has set its goal to return nearly 50-percent of the U.S. back to human free wilderness areas and “wildlands” corridors.

Coalitions between state agencies and such radical organizations should throw up red flags for the residents of the Northern Rockies. Perhaps some elected officials can’t foresee a problem, but the sportsmen who have footed the bill to finance the past 75 years of very successful wildlife conservation in Montana, and every other state, should question the motives of public servants and state agencies when they work hand in hand with those who are working to put an end to the hunting heritage of a state. That is especially true when said agency comes under the directives of the governor.

In Montana, there is now a growing resentment towards MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and towards the current governor. The 2012 gubernatorial race will very much be a “Wolf Ticket”, as will be the battle to win any other seat in office. Those who have supported wildlife conservation programs in Montana have grown weary of the idiocy behind the wolf introduction, and those who are now apparently working to destroy the state’s once strong outdoor based economy.

Two 2012 gubernatorial candidates have taken a strong “wolf control” platform, and both have publicly stated that overhauling MT FWP should, and would, become a priority. One is Ken Miller, of Laurel, MT. During an exchange of communications with LOBO WATCH founder Toby Bridges earlier this year, Miller agreed that FWP was severely broken, and that it would take a tremendous revamping to turn the agency around, to get it back on track – and that is to serve those who have supported FWP since its inception. Back in February and March, Ken Miller was pretty opinionated about the need for more stringent wolf control, but in recent months the candidate vying for the Republican slot on the ballot has quieted down considerably.

The most open candidate on wolves has been Tea Party runner Robert Fanning, of Pray, MT. He is the founder and c.e.o. of Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd, and has lived first hand with the destruction wolves bring to big game herds. Fanning and his group have chronicled the constant decline of the once famous elk herd, which was recognized as the largest migratory elk herd in the world – before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service unleashed non-native Canadian wolves on America’s wildlife wonderland. His “Wolf Ticket” bid is to force state control of wolves and other predators, to completely overhaul Montana’s wildlife agency, and to move a totally revamped  MT Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks under the legislative branch rather than the executive branch of state government.

Roughly, one year from now Montana voters will be casting ballots for the candidates of their choice. Now is the time to determine who will best address your needs, and who will best represent the Montana lifestyle. Whether running for governor, state senator or state representative, every candidate will make the same old campaign promises – to attract new jobs and to insure better education for our children. Just as importantly, we need to elect those ready and willing to fight for our way of life, even if it means standing up to the federal government. If they can do that, the employment and education opportunities will be there. If they can’t, there is not much hope that things will ever get any better. – Toby Bridges, LOBO WATCH

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For more on Robert Fanning’s proposed overhaul of MT FWP, go to:
http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2011/08/25/robert-fanning-candidate-mt-governor-reveals-his-proposals-for-fish-wildlife-and-parks-department/

The Wolf War Has Begun!

The following is a LOBO WATCH editorial/news release that was circulated in the spring of 2009. We thought things were bad then…but they’ve gotten much worse.

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Back during the mid 1990s (basically 1995-1996), Yellowstone National Parks’ northern elk herd peaked at around 19,000 animals. The herd was a healthy mix of all ages. And so were the elk herds just to the north and west in Montana . In fact, the state’s elk herd had reached record levels – and for sportsmen, the hunting had never been better. Life was great if you were an elk hunter. Sound, and still growing, populations of elk could be found throughout most of the state. Likewise, the deer herds across Montana were also thriving, thanks to the same hundred years of dedicated conservation work and the billions of sportsmen provided dollars that funded all of that work. Additionally, ever expanding populations of pronghorn, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat also offered greater and greater hunting opportunities.

Unfortunately, the mid 1990s stand to be remembered as the “Good Ol’ Days” unless an all out effort is made to get a handle on the wildlife equivalent of a deadly virus or cancer which has been unleashed upon all big game found along the Northern Rockies. Reintroduced gray wolves are now making a very serious negative impact on our big game resources in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

In 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the first 14 Canadian wolves in Yellowstone, getting the “Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Plan” kicked off. The following year, they released 17 more wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Area. And from that core of 31 wolves, the number of wolves in and adjacent to the park had increased to 273 by 2002…and Yellowstone’s wondrous northern elk herd had dropped to less than 12,000.

What particularly worried area hunters, who valued the Yellowstone elk herds that wintered outside of the park, offering tremendous hunting opportunities, was how wolf packs were destroying the next generations of elk during the spring calving period. To sustain a huntable elk herd requires a calf survival rate of about 30-percent. By 2002, the calf to cow ratio of the Northern Yellowstone herd had dropped to only 14-percent. This was due to not only wolf depredation of newborn calves, but also the stress on pregnant cows from being constantly pursued by wolves, which very often resulted in fetuses being aborted. Likewise, elk that are constantly on the move do not have the luxury of fattening up for the winter, and many now go into the harshest weather of the year undernourished.

This past spring (2009), Yellowstone’s northern elk herd numbered only about 6,000 – about a third of what it was 14 years ago. The average age of the elk back when they were first thrown to the wolves was 4 to 5 years of age, today’s average Yellowstone elk is now 8 years old. Without adequate calf recruitment in the spring, this population of geriatric elk is headed for precipitous crash. Unless some very drastic measures are taken to eliminate half or more of the 450 wolves that now share the same range, this herd could be totally lost within the next five years. And as elk numbers continue to drop, the wolves have added most all other wildlife to their menus, now negatively impacting deer, moose, and other big game numbers.

The problem is not limited to just the Greater Yellowstone Area. Despite claims by MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks that elk and deer numbers remain “well above objective”, sportsmen here sure don’t agree. In most of western Montana, where wolves are most prominent, hunter success this past season took a big nose dive. In FWP’s Region 2 (west central), the elk harvest was down 45%…the whitetail harvest was down 50%…and the mule deer harvest was down 45% FROM THE PAST FIVE-YEAR AVERAGE! Likewise, hunters here and many other areas west of the Continental Divide reported seeing the fewest number of elk and deer in nearly 20 years.

Montana sportsmen are losing faith and trust in their wildlife agency, with many now claiming that MT FWP outright lies to them. This is especially true when it comes to the number of wolves that agency claims to be in Montana. For much of the past two years, MT FWP has sounded like a broken record, repeatedly claiming that the state’s wolf population is about 500. Hunters feel that far too much damage has already been done to the state’s elk and deer herds for the number to be that low.

During the 2008 federal delisting hearing to remove the gray wolf of the Northern Rockies from the protection of the Endangered Species Act, Dr. L. David Mech, who is arguably the leading wolf authority in the world, was deposed as an expert witness. In his declaration, Mech presented wolf population growth dynamics that indicated Montana’s wolf population is more likely 1,000 to 1,200. Based on how quickly the numbers of elk, deer and moose are declining in this state, hunters tend to agree. These same hunters also now feel that the “wolf experts” within MT FWP, or even the U.S.F.W.S. for that matter, lack the knowledge and technology to accurately assess just how many wolves there really are. According to David Mech, there are more like 3,000 to 3,500 wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming – not the “around 1,700” claimed.

Sportsmen have grown sick and tired of the guessing game, and the loss of big game due to the inability of state and federal wildlife agencies to manage a pestilence that is dealing a devastating blow to what was one of the greatest wildlife resources in the world. A growing number have decided it is time to unite and fight – to let the wolf war really begin.

One group is now looking at forming a Montana Chapter of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, and a primary goal of the new organization will be to push for a much escalated management of wolf numbers. Among those making up this group are several state senators. Likewise, the group is turning to the national shooting and hunting industry for financial support, and several major companies have already said they will step up to the plate to fight this serious threat to hunting in general.

One goal of the group will be to show up in force at FWP Commission meetings, to make sure that the demands of Montana sportsmen are herd – and headed. Another is to be standing on the curb and on the steps of the U.S. District Court in Missoula during any hearings regarding wolves, carrying signs to show support for keeping the wolf delisted – and to demand greater management of these apex predators, not to just slow the growth of wolf numbers…but to insure that we pull their numbers down to a level that allows big game numbers to rebound. In short, the goal will be to put a lot more sensible control on out-of-control wolf numbers. That’s something that’s totally missing right now.

For the time being, the battles will be spotlighted on the LOBO WATCH web site (www.lobowatch.com), giving everyone a place where they can keep in touch with what’s happening, and what’s not…and who’s with us and who’s not. Bowhunting.net editor Rich Walton has offered me the opportunity to do the same there with a monthly column, to also be known as LOBO WATCH. In the following months, this column will reveal how the environmental organizations are purposely using wolf reintroduction to curtail sport hunting, how some game departments now tend to favor the pro-wolf movement and ignore today’s hunters, the impact wolves are now making on the deer herds of the upper Midwest, the ultimate goal of the Wolf Reintroduction Project, how the negative impact wolves are making will affect the shooting & hunting industry, how that industry needs to unify and put anti-hunting environmental groups on the defense, legislative issues regarding wolf management, and just how many wolves there are…and how many are really needed to maintain a viable population. These and many other wolf related issues will be shared in this column each and every month.

Many of you reading this probably know me best for my coverage of muzzleloading and muzzleloader hunting. I’m actually one of those who take full advantage of all seasons. I bow hunt…I muzzleloader hunt…I hunt with modern guns. If there were sling shot seasons, I’d be out there chucking rocks! I love to hunt, and that is why I have elected to challenge the wolf issue. Most of you reading this are removed from wolf problems by 500…1,000…maybe even 2,000 miles. Still, you are somewhat affected by what happens over the next 5 or 6 years in wolf states like Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. And whether you know it or not, the big plan of the Wolf Reintroduction Project is to bring wolves back into all of its original home range in this country – which means the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could be bringing wolves to a neck of your woods soon.

The wolf war has begun, it’s time to stop this idiocy now! – Toby Bridges, LOBO WATCH

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Note: The official northern Yellowstone elk herd count this past winter (2011) was down to around 4,400 elk, made up of animals 9 to 10 years of age. The Lolo elk unit of Idaho has undergone the same degree of wolf depredation, with the herd dropping from around 14,000 just 6 years ago, to around 2,300 this past winter/spring. In Montana, the West Fork of the Bitterroot herd has crashed from over 2,000 elk to fewer than 700. And other herds in the Northern Rockies have suffered the same fate. Still, in Montana, the state’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks continues to lie to residents, claiming that between Missoula and Butte, there is now a record number of elk. Please watch for an upcomiong LOBO WATCH editorial release which will share how Montana voters can take care of the FWP problem during the 2012 election…and just who the state senators and representatives are that continue to vote against wolf control measures.

LOBO WATCH

This new blog won’t be another attempt to picture the wolf as the cute, cuddly, loving and very sociable creature so wrongly portrayed by Walt Disney in his “wildlife films” of the 1960s…or which was written about by early radical environmentalist Farley Mowat in his book “Never Cry Wolf”. The wolves presented by these two individuals have never existed. In stark contrast, this blog will present the wolf as it really is – an apex predator that man has had to control since the two first shared the same Earth.

Wolves are anything but cuddly and friendly. Fact is, they are the most successful wild predators on the planet – and the impact they can and will have on other wildlife populations is nothing short of amazing…or devastating. Disney, Mowat and other out-of-touch with reality pro-wolf advocates have presented the wolf as the “sanitarian of nature”, claiming that wolves only kill the sick, injurred and weak among other wildlfie species. Another of their claims is that wolves, by keeping inferior animals weeded out of the herds, make populations of elk, moose, deer, and other big game healthier.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Wolves will run down and kill anything that gets in front of them – and they do not discriminate between the old and sick and the young and vibrant. Thanks to the stupidity of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, corrupt state wildlife agencies, radical environmentalists, and money hungry radical environmental organizations (i.e. Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, etc.), through the misuse of the Endangered Species Act a non-native Canadian wolf has been dumped into the Northern Rockies. The result has been the greatest wildlife disaster of our lifetimes. Since that “introduction” of an invasive wolf subspecies, the past 75 yeas of sound wildlife conservation in northern Idaho, western Montana and northwestern Wyoming has been simply thrown out the door. The first of those wolves were released in 1995, and today there are very likely as many as 4,000 to 4,500 wolves in this region of the country. The result has been an 80-percent loss of many elk herds, the near total loss of moose, and a dramatic reduction in the number of mule deer and white-tailed deer.

This blog will keep the spotlight burning on those who are responsible…the wildlife conservation ethics that have been violated…the lies and deceit behind the Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Project…the money environmental groups have bilked out of the American public…the real agenda behind the destruction of wildlife populations and the loss of livestock to wolves…and how residents of the region have had enough and are now in full revolt.

In short, this blog will present the truth about wolves, the laws that have been broken to bring non-indigenous wolves across the border to the U.S., will name the people involved, share the billions robbed from American taxpayers, the theft of millions to finance this phony project, and what is being done now to fight all the wrong that has been forced on the American West.

Nope, this blog certainly will not be about the fictitious wolves that Disney and Mowatt presented, and which strong pro-wolf groups continue to lie about. – Toby Bridges, LOBO WATCH

Welcome to Wolf Control Central!

If you have had your fill of the idiocy behind allowing wolves to destroy the past 75 years of wildlife conservation in the Northwest and the Upper Midwest, or the plans to insure high wolf numbers in other regions of the United States, you most definitely have come to the right blog.

Many of you are well aware of the extremely pro-wolf Ralph Maughan blog.  Well, this will become the counter to the lies spread by the radical pro-wolfers on that blog.  Here, we will share the truth about wolves…the truth about the damage they are dealing other wildlife species…the diseases they spread…the physical threat wolves pose humans…the psychological impact wolves are having on those who live in wolf country…the phony environmentalists behind the stupidity of growing wolf numbers…the lies and deceit used to hide the truth, and to force wolves on rural residents…AND WE WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM IN NAMING THOSE RESPONSIBLE!