Andrew Wetzler of the “Natural Resources Defense Council” reports the following:
“The Associated Press is reporting that Senator John Tester got the go-ahead to attach a rider to last night’s budget deal that will strip endangered species protections from gray wolves in the Northern Rockies. As a result, Montana and Idaho (whose legislature recently passed an absurd “declaration of wolf emergency bill”) are very likely to move forward with plans to kill hundreds of wolves in the region.
This is a huge setback for one of America’s greatest conservation success stories and a significant blow to the Endangered Species Act and the principle it embodies: that science and law, not the whims of politics, should dictate what animals and plants are worthy of federal protection.
Now is not the time to give up, however. We will keep fighting for wolves and, should this short-sighted rider move forward in the budget, NRDC will carefully review whatever language Congress enacts and assess our options. We will be closely monitoring the state management of wolves and the federal agencies that want to help the states carry out their plans. And we will keep fighting to defend the Endangered Species Act and all the living things it protects.”
*Tell Senator Jon Tester your thoughts about his plans to circumvent the Endangered Species at at: http://tester.senate.gov/Contact/index.cfm
The Wolf Preservation Blog 