I have been wondering since the election how the new administration would rule on the Wolf delisting issue, in fact I was viewing it as a metric of “on the ground” common sense from our new DC occupants. Honestly, I did not think that Obama would support delisting the Gray Wolf but today the Obama administration decided the Bush era decision to delist the Gray Wolf would stand. A commendable decision in my opinion.
I am not a fan of much of anything that has the Bush “brand” on it and I would not even go so far as to credit Bush with the Gray Wolf delisting as I would the collection of agencies, scientists and individuals in Montana and Idaho who put in the time to create a common sense approach to wolf management.
The fact that the decision to uphold wolf delisting comes from the Democrats, in recent years the home of the “green party” is interesting. Of course the pro-wolf environmental groups will sue over the decision but it puts them in an interesting position, kind of a “biting the hand that feeds you” sort of thing. Not that I don’t think that environmental interests shouldn’t have a voice or have a diminished influence in the management of the countries natural resources, I just think that they should pick their fights wisely and support them with real science, common sense and serve all our interests.
David Mech, one of the countries leading wolf experts has stated that, “I’m satisfied, and most wolf biologists I know are satisfied, that wolf populations in both regions (Great Lakes and the Northern Rockies) have been biologically recovered for the last five years”. For the last five years folks! Enough already.
It will be interesting to see how much “political capital” the opponents of wolf delisting are willing to expend (even in their own house) before they decide to move on to more pressing issues.
