Can't We Blame Bush Yet

From the Shawano Leader from Rhinelander Daily News.

Can the left please get over Bush, he's gone. your guy won! You need to go the the end of the article to see a moonbat comment. You farmers, ranchers and land owners, 53% of you voted for Obama, he's your guy! Those Obama voters must be happy.

"Wolves still protected, at least in the near future
By Giles Morris, Rhinelander Daily News

Wisconsin’s wolves were on their way off of the list of Federal endangered species and now it looks like they’ll be staying on it, at least in the near future.

Last week the Wisconsin DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that they had addressed concerns expressed by a federal judge and expected a ruling to de-list wolves on Jan. 27 that would take effect in late February. President Obama’s announcement to hold any Federal rulings issued by the Bush administration in its final 120 days has halted, once again, the Wisconsin DNR’s 11-year struggle to gain control over the management of its wolf population.

The on-again off-again wolf de-list saga has pitted wolf advocacy groups against DNR wildlife ecologists on the battleground of the Federal court system.

In October U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman sided with environmental groups that accused the government of misreading the law last year when it lifted protections for about 4,000 wolves.

While the decision is likely to have a minimal impact on Oneida County’s wolves, it has put an abrupt stop to the DNR’s carefully developed management program.

At the time Dr. Adrian Wydeven, head of the DNR’s wolf program, said the sate was disappointed at Judge Freedman’s decision.

“We think it’s an unfortunate action,” Wydeven said. “We felt like we had a good management system in place. We had a much more flexible system and we felt that having a flexible system would prevent people from becoming frustrated with the wolf population.”

The lawsuit challenging the Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2007 decision to de-list the wolves in the Upper Great Lakes, The Humane Society and several other groups claimed the government had acted illegally by designating Great Lakes wolves as a “distinct population segment” that could be bumped from the endangered list without regard to the species’ nationwide standing.

Friedman ruled that it was not clear whether the 1973 Endangered Species Act permitted such a move. He ordered the agency to provide a better explanation of its interpretation and respond to concerns that its policy could undermine the goal of protecting the wolf. In the meantime, he returned the wolf to the federal endangered list.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service addressed Freedman’s concerns and announced last week that it expected a ruling on Jan. 27 that would have paved the way for wolves to be de-listed again in late February. Wydeven also said while the Humane Society pursued the suit, a number of other environmental groups, including the Defenders of Wild Life, the Sierra Club, and the National Wildlife Federation, had not opposed de-listing of wolves in the Upper Great Lakes. He said the Humane Society may have used the appeal to make a pre-emptive strike against the DNR opening a wolf season in the future.

“As an organization the Humane Society has been opposed to lethal controls and to hunting seasons,” Wydeven said. “That could have been part of their motive in pursuing the case, trying to stop a hunting season.”

The estimated population of wolves in Wisconsin last winter was 537 to 564 wolves, according to the DNR. The agency’s goal for recovery had been 350. In 2000, Wisconsin had fewer than 250 wolves.

With the wolf population sufficiently recovered, the DNR supported the lifting of protections so that landowners who complained that wolves were harming or killing livestock or pets could obtain a permit to kill wolves. In 2008, around 45 wolves were shot or euthanized by personnel with the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the request of the DNR. The DNR has also begun allowing landowners to kill wolves without a permit if they found wolves attacking their livestock. In 2008, that has only happened twice.

Wydeven said the newest twist in the wolf de-list saga was disappointing.

“We were fearful that it might happen. It’s a frustrating process we’ve been working at this for 11 years and it’s just another delay in the process,” Wydeven said.

But Wydeven said he did not expect the halt of federal rulings to de-rail the DNR’s efforts, explaining that the issue’s history was non-partisan. The proposal to de-list wolves in the Upper Great Lakes was first submitted under the direction of Bruce Babbitt, Clinton’s EPA boss, in 1998.

“It’s not like this was just a Bush move,” Wydeven said. “It’s had broad support from both parties.”

Wydeven said the de-listing is in the best interest of wolves. “I think the biggest problem wolves face is their reputation. Being carnivores that kill large mammals there are places where they benefit the local system and places where their presence can run contrary to human interests,” Wydeven said. “If we don’t manage problem wolves that cause livestock depredation, it damages the reputation of wolves more broadly.”" Shawano Leader

Who is this guy Wydeven who said, “It’s not like this was just a Bush move" Bush is gone and he feels bad he can't blame Bush?