Tuesday’s ruling from a federal judge regarding Wyoming’s wolf management plan is not the kiss of death that folks may perceive. It is basically a case of a technicality in how Wyoming and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established the wolf management plan. We believe that is easily fixed on Wyoming’s end. There are some silver linings within this ruling handed down from Judge Jackson as she ruled against two of the major three claims made by the plaintiffs that the court ruled on, including confirmation of the fact that Wyoming’s wolf population has recovered and is not endangered. We anticipate Wyoming will be able to fix the issue with how its wolf management plan is written to satisfy the court.
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The real shame of this continuing litigation and legal maneuvering by HSUS, Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity and others is the amount of American taxpayer money the judge may award them for their legal fees, all in the name of the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). This is a continued misuse of taxpayer dollars for an ideological agenda that has little to do with wolves. These groups continue to use the gray wolf reintroduction as a fundraising tool by profiting from EAJA payments awarded by courts, yet they do nothing for wolves, wolf habitat, collaring wolves for the sake of research and beyond.
In reality, nothing relative to the gray wolf recovery program is likely to change in the long run as a result of this court case but thousands of dollars will change hands for legal fees. This is not conservation work.
David Allen
RMEF President & CEO