Wolf Protest in Kalispell
From the Eastern Montana Daily Inter Lake:
Hunters vent frustrations
By Jim Mann, Daily Inter Lake, February 27, 2009 [here]
About 70 hunters, clad in camouflage and orange vests, gathered in front of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks headquarters in Kalispell on Friday to protest the prolonged delay in Montana assuming management of gray wolves.
“We’ve got to manage these animals,” said Brad Borden, one of the protest organizers. “They haven’t been managed. They’ve just been allowed to have the run of the place.”
The protesters cheered as passing motorists supportively honked their horns. They carried placards that plainly expressed their purpose for a protest that will continue today: “Elk — the next endangered species,” “Feds and Wolves, out of control,” “Save our wildlife, not the wolves,” “FWP and hunters are the best management tools, not wolves!”
Wolf recovery goals have been exceeded every year since 2002 in the Northern Rockies, but litigation led by environmental groups has repeatedly derailed delisting efforts.
In January, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service once again moved to remove wolves from protection under the Endangered Species Act, but the incoming Obama administration suspended that action in order to review the delisting rule. … [more]
