The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), a group with 158,000-members that has protected or improved 5.7 million acres of wildlife habitat has broken with conservation organizations and animal rights groups (including Defenders of Wildlife and Western Wildlife Conservancy) over a court ruling to continue protection for the gray wolf to the detriment of the elk population.
This is good news for those who are tired of being labeled extremists for seeking balance between the natural and human environments. It’s surprising news too, given that RMEF didn’t oppose the reintroduction of wolves and is generally on the same side as pro-wolf groups.
But as rural communities have known for years, the ESA needs fixing: balance is non-existent and common sense has gone missing. In this case it’s not humans vs. fish though, it’s species vs. species. Wolves win, elk don’t matter.
Why is that? Many conservation groups now adhere to Conservation Biology theory wherein wolves are major actors in its overarching vision: large migrating carnivorous populations of wolves, grizzly bears, and mountain lions are reestablished to slow extinctions and save the earth. Conservation biology adherents in national, state, and local environmental groups have bought into it lock, stock, and barrel.
As they bring pressure to bear on politicians and bureaucrats, we see increasingly restrictive laws enacted and access to public lands for multiple uses disappearing. Believe it or not, Conservation Biology is driving many environmental decisions in the United States these days.
A very simplistic explanation of Conservation Biology theory is that there are too many people, too much habitat disturbance and fragmentation (habitats aren’t connected for migration), and as a result the whole system is out of whack. We are in the midst of a major extinction period that didn’t have to happen. If we limit peoples’ activities by “protecting” public and private lands and bring back the carnivores – “rewild America” – it will modify the behavior of prey species, shift consumption dynamics all the way down the food chain, and restore equilibrium to the system.
It may sound nutty, but it’s mainstream thought these days in large segments of the environmental community. More about that another day… If you want to read up on it, Conservation Biology by Michael Soule and Rewilding North America by EarthFirst founder David Foreman are good introductions. In addition, Google “conservation biology”, “rewilding”, and “The Wildlands Network” for more info.
RMEF Calls on Congress to Reform Endangered Species Act
RMEF Mission: “to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
| August 6, 2010 |
| MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is calling for immediate Congressional review and reform of the Endangered Species Act following a judge’s decision yesterday to reinstate full federal protection for gray wolves.The Aug. 5 ruling means state wildlife agencies no longer have authority to manage skyrocketing wolf populations—even in areas where wolf predation is driving cow elk, moose and elk calf survival rates below thresholds needed to sustain herds for the future.RMEF says the judge has opened a door for perhaps the greatest wildlife management disaster in America since the wanton destruction of bison herds over a century ago. “When federal statutes and judges actually endorse the annihilation of big game herds, livestock, rural and sporting lifestyles—and possibly even compromise human safety—then clearly the Endangered Species Act as currently written has major flaws,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “We have already begun contacting the Congressional delegations of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to ask for an immediate review of this travesty—and reform of the legislation that enabled it.” Allen pointed out an irony, if not an outright error, in the decision issued by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy.“Judge Molloy said wolves in the northern Rockies are a single population that cannot be segmented based on political boundaries. But he essentially did that very thing himself, because he considered only the wolf population within the U.S. There are 75,000-plus gray wolves across Canada, yet Judge Molloy stopped at the border and did not consider the entire Rocky Mountain population. The gray wolf is simply not an endangered species,” said Allen.
Animal rights groups who continue to litigate over wolves are “gaming the system for their own financial benefit,” he added, saying, “There are no elk in Iowa, but we are not suing folks to reintroduce them. This is simply a financial scam for the animal rights groups, and it’s all being paid for by the American taxpayer.” Additionally, Allen urged the governors in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to begin the process of formally implementing “the 10(j) rule” as provided within federal law. For all species reintroductions classified as a “nonessential, experimental population,” as is the case with gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act, the 10(j) rule allows states more flexibility to mitigate for unacceptable impacts on big game populations, livestock and domestic animals. About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation: Snowy peaks, dark timber basins and grassy meadows. RMEF is leading an elk country initiative that has conserved or enhanced habitat on over 5.8 million acres-a land area equivalent to a swath three miles wide and stretching along the entire Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico. RMEF also works to open, secure and improve public access for hunting, fishing and other recreation. Get involved at www.rmef.org or 800-CALL ELK. |
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