Minnesota is the Great Lakes state not run by the Republicans. As a result, the state continues on in a fairly progressive way. including wildlife. Minnesota was the last holdout of wolves in the 48 states. From there they made a grand comeback in Wisconsin and Michigan. For a while it seemed the anti-wolf hysteria…
Bozeman, Montana. Last Sunday the Bozeman Chronicle ran an editorial about wolves based on the standard barroom biology that informs so much of the state’s policy on wolf management. Today MSU’s noted wolf biologist, Dr. Scott Creel corrected them on their most fundamental fact, which they got flatout wrong — the wolf population in Montana…
By George Wuerthner State Fish and Game agencies are in the midst of a funding and mission crisis. They appear unable to adapt to shifting political and demographic changes much as the Republican Party is failing to adjust to new voter realities. The crisis is nowhere more evident than in their attitudes towards predators like…
Hard information about wolves or anything else does not come from rants- Discussion of politics and many other things, including wildlife, seems to have broken down. Instead of discussion, people yell. Instead of facts they tell stories (anecdotes) and cite folklore, urban myths and rural conspiracy theories. Very importantly, a number soldier on, citing scientific…
Wyoming’s Wolf Plan Lethal for Wolves Denver, CO. A coalition of grassroots conservation organizations filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) today for removing gray wolves in Wyoming from the federal threatened and endangered species list. The Service approved the State’s management of wolves in September, and the Wyoming Game and Fish…
Republican Hill sees wildlife in terms of hunting; Democrat Bullock takes a more expansive view of the value of wildlife- The view of governors on wildlife makes a big difference because wildlife management is the province of the states except for endangered species and some marine mammals. Montana’s Democrat and current attorney general Steve Bullock…
Big old cougar toms keep “law and order” in the woods- The finding of this study might surprise many people, but it only confirms what a number of small studies have shown. Young sexually active cougar toms strike fear in cougar moms. Adolescent male cougars kill the kittens, and they are more likely to attack…
Conservation groups angry; Wyoming wolf population delisted- Wyoming politicians were the ones most opposed to the restoration of wolves to the American Northern Rocky mountains. They filed numerous lawsuits against the program, which they generally lost. Now they have won. The Obama Administration has delisted wolves in Wyoming, and a hunting season beginning Oct. 1 will begin…
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.