Access bill gets overwhelming support in House

The bill designed to clarify the public's right to access rivers and streams at bridge crossings picked up a lot of momentum Monday when the House gave it initial approval by a 95-5 vote. A final vote is expected today in the House, before the bill moves on to the Senate.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer has already said he'll sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

Obama administration reviewing delisting

Let's hope the Obama administration officials reviewing the Bush admin's last-second delisting proposal for wolves allows those regs to take affect. There are plenty of wolves out there, and even if hunting has the disastrous effect the anti-delisting crowd claims, wolves have shown they can increase their numbers quickly.

This quote is particularly rich:

“Wolf recovery has been successful, but that can be reversed very quickly,” said Louisa Willcox, senior wildlife advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The population numbers bounce around a lot. You can have a big down-bounce. If you manage for the minimum, kill 500 in Idaho, and then you have a disease year, it makes it hard to crawl out of that hole.”

Hard to crawl out of that hole? There were about 60 wolves released in the northern Rockies in 1995 and 1996. Today there are about 1,500. The minimum population target of 300 animals was reached in 2002, six years after reintroduction.

The notion that wolf populations are somehow fragile and could easily be wiped out is ridiculous. What is fragile is the social/political dynamic that creates an environment of support for wolves in the human populations that surround wolf country. If the anti-delisting crowd keeps playing games with wolf management they run the risk of turning that social dynamic against wolves. Maybe they don't care. Maybe they think they can say the Hell with what the locals think.

We think wolves are better off if the local human populations favor the wolf's presence. We think that's an environment that promotes long-term sustainability of these magnificent predators.

Access foes keep playing the game

What do you do when you lose in court? If you've got enough money, you keep hiring lawyers and keep throwing bogus arguments at Montana's citizen legislature in hopes that you can delay, and maybe prevent, the LAW OF MONTANA from ever being enforced.

At least that seems to be billionaire landowner James Cox Kennedy's startegy when it comes to bridge easements for river access in Madison County.

Wolves delisted?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service again moved to delist wolves from Endangered Species Act protection, a decision that is almost certain to be challenged in court. Delisting is the right call, while the likely legal challenges and delays to hunting seasons for wolves in Montana and Idaho will continue to threaten the the long-term viability of wolf recovery. The deal was that once these critters were recovered, management would move to the states and limited hunting would be allowed.

By the way, Wyoming was excluded from delisting due to the fact that that state has yet to present an adult-drafted management plan. Wyoming's shoot-on-sight policy everywhere but Yellowstone National Park is childish nonsense.

Wolves are now recovered in Montana and Idaho. Period. Their fecundity has exceed all expectations. But some of the environmental groups involved in the lawsuits seem less interested in wolf recovery, and more interested in the cottage industry of conflict that the continued battle over delisting provides. In the mean time, they threaten to shatter the fragile coalition that paved the way for successful reintroduction and recovery.

The recovery goal for the program was at least 300 animals in Montana, Wyoming and idaho, with 30 breeding pairs. That goal was reached in 2002. There are now more than 1,500 wolves in the Northern Rockies by official estimates, a number that probably understates the population.

The recovery of this species — once eliminated from the lower 48 in one of the ugliest campaigns of extermination in American history — is nothing short of miraculous.

“The bottom line is wolves are fully recovered, and they should be delisted,” federal gray wolf recovery coordinator Ed Bangs was reported saying by the Missoulian during the teleconference announcing the decision. “It's the right time and the right thing to do.”

Bangs is right to a point. Wolves are recovered, biologically. But social and political recovery is still on hold. Full recovery waits for Wyoming to put some adults in charge of drafting its management plan, and for environmental groups to stop playing politics with the species.

Get er done

This may be the legislative session where the issue of river access at bridge crossings is finally settled. It sounds as though a coalition of interest groups is behind this common-sense solution for creating safe access to rivers, while keeping cattle behind the fence where they belong.

We especially appreciate this comment from bill sponsor, Rep. Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings:

“If a rich, out-of-stater wants to buy access to rivers and streams, I know some incredibly pretty places in Wyoming they can look at."

Montanans cherish our Stream Access Law. A final ruling on bridge crossings, coupled with the Supreme Court's slam dunk decision not to allow landowners to deny the public access to the Bitterroot River (know as the Mitchell Slough Case) means the Stream Access Law is stronger than ever.

Access, other issues top agenda

Stream access tops the list of proposals the legislature will consider this session that have particular importance to hunters and anglers. Another proposal would fine landowners who string barbed wire across rivers. That seems like a no brainer issue of public safety.

Wilderness fans gear up

Anticipating a more friendly president will soon reside in the White House, wilderness advocates are polishing up proposals for a new Montana wilderness bill. Sure to be considered is this proposal for the Rocky Mountain Front.

Plum Creek the good guys?

Leave it to the Bush administration to make even one of the environmental movement's favorite whipping boys look good in the waning days of this dismal presidency. Plum Creek officials now say the timber company won't use logging road easements to access forest lands for development, even while Agricultural Undersecretary Mark Rey keeps pushing for the deal.