It has happened yet again.
On Feb. 10 in California, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to overturn its decision to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, who asserted ostensibly that Fish and Wildlife does not know what it is doing.
V. Paul Reynolds, Outdoors Columnist
There are an estimated 9,000 gray wolves in a number of Rocky Mountain states. Under the ESA, which is intended to protect endangered species, the feds, in concert with their professional wildlife biologists, have the authority to remove or delist any listed species that it deems as “recovered.”
It is common knowledge in the West that gray wolves have re-established themselves, are thriving and have slowly migrated into other states. Legal technicalities notwithstanding, the gray wolf has recovered. In Colorado, there is soon to be forced gray wolf reintroduction as a result of a statewide public referendum.
As noted, this is not the first time that USFWS has had its wildlife management decisions challenged. During the past 20 years, a number of delistings have been taken to court, often by the same organizations: Earth Justice, Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and the Humane Society of the United States.
We are an increasingly litigious nation, and it is probably inevitable that critter protection and management wind up in the judicial/political arena. But hasn’t it gotten out of hand with these same wealthy preservationists groups going to court again and again? It’s the old saying about “anybody with enough money can go to court again and again.”
The USFWS employs professionals to engage in proper stewardship of American wildlife. And USFWS usually works in conjunction with other professional wildlife managers and biologists at the state level.
Federal, state and local taxpayers and the hunting community spend a lot of money underwriting wildlife conservation across America. That the hard work, dedication and professional knowledge of USFWS and state wildlife agencies can be shrugged off by one utterance of a black-robed, gavel-wielding Federal Court judge seems wrong.
The Endangered Species Act has had value and has resulted in genuine protection of imperiled species, but it is being exploited and abused. Perhaps it is time that lawmakers in Congress consider some measure of tort reform legislation that increases the risk for preservationists groups with deep pockets.
V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal, an author, a Maine guide and host of a weekly radio program, “Maine Outdoors,” heard at 7 p.m. Sundays on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. Contact him at vpaulr@tds.net.
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