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Should wolves in northwest Wyoming be running for cover or digging a deep den?

With the predators in the Legislature loading machine guns and gassing up the helicopters, a war of eradication is brewing, and Canis lupus is squarely in the crosshairs.

Lawmakers in Cheyenne, and the governor, appear content to continue digging in their heels in hopes of forcing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to compromise and allow more liberal killing of wolves, once the species is delisted. So far Fish and Wildlife has resisted bending on any measure that could lead to the wolves’ near-extinction.

But a recent appointment that received scant media attention locally may help stack the deck in the state’s favor.

Last week, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the selection of former Wyoming Speaker of the House Randall Luthi to be deputy director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. The appointment was made at the behest of Wyoming’s Republican congressional delegation, chiefly U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas.

Luthi is an attorney and rancher from Star Valley who previously served as counsel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Interior Department.

“We’re excited to have Randall Luthi join the Fish and Wildlife Service,” Dale Hall, the agency director, said in a press release. “His unique perspective as a landowner and legislator will help us continue to work with our partners to deliver effective wildlife conservation across the nation.”

Here’s a look at some of Luthi’s legislative “perspective:”

• In 2003, he was House majority leader when the Wyoming Legislature passed its controversial wolf management plan, which the Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected. That plan classifies wolves as predators in most of the state and allows them to be shot on sight or killed with poison, den explosives and aerial gunning.

• In February 2004, Luthi, as majority leader, buried and effectively killed a bill crafted by Mike Baker of Thermopolis that sought to compromise with the Fish and Wildlife Service and avoid a lawsuit. Wyoming sued the federal government instead, trying to force acceptance of its plan, a battle still tied up in court.

• In August 2004, Luthi testified before a Senate subcommittee convened by Thomas in Casper on the Endangered Species Act, which Luthi called a “profound failure.”

He said the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park was a product of “federal arrogance” that he found “astounding.”

“What price will Wyoming have to pay for the vicarious and voyeuristic enjoyment of someone in New York knowing that wolves are thriving?” he asked.

He later presented gory photos of cattle, horses and pets he said were killed by wolves on Stephen Gordon’s Diamond G Ranch near Dubois.

“Wyoming residents, their dogs and our wildlife should not be held hostage by the federal government,” he told the Senate committee.

• From his time in the Legislature, here are Luthi’s scores — based on votes related to wildlife, air and water quality, access to public lands and other conservation issues — from the nonpartisan Wyoming Conservation Voters:

• 2002 — 0
  2003 — 17
  2004 — 56
  2005 — 77
  2006 — 60

In other words, he achieved a C+ only once since Wyo Conservation Voters began issuing scorecards. The other four years, he failed.

Is this the type of “perspective” needed at the helm of the nation’s principal agency dedicated to conservation of fish, wildlife and its habitat?

“I would even question whether he’s qualified to be in that position where he has any say over the administration of the [Endangered Species Act] and government of endangered species,” says Franz Camenzind, executive director of Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance.

Luthi has been “critical of predator management and expansion of the range,” Camenzind says. “I fear this is not good for wolves.”

When his nomination was announced, Luthi expressed an interest in revising the Endangered Species Act, with Kempthorne’s direction. Sen. Thomas has pushed for an overhaul of the act. Luthi also mentioned the National Elk Refuge, where there has been controversy over feeding of elk.

In the Republican-dominated Wyoming Legislature, any enthusiasm over the prospect of a compromise with the Fish and Wildlife Service on wolf management has cooled.

“Negotiations are in progress, but they’re not going very well,” says Rep. Pete Jorgensen, D-Jackson. He cites the “posturing” of some lawmakers, as well as Gov. Freudenthal, for hindering the process.

Practically loading a machine gun and preparing to board a helicopter to kill wolves is Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, inexplicably the chairman of the House Wildlife Committee.

A former oil executive with the build of Jabba the Hut, Childers has been pushing for the state to have an aerial gunning program to control the population once wolves are delisted. He wants the state to spend $2.4 million on a GPS system and radio collars to monitor the movements of every wolf pack. He also is pushing another bill calling for the state to sue the federal government over the Endangered Species Act.

During discussion of wolves in recent months, Childers has been spewing enough hot air to power a wind farm. Among his many blundering statements was insulting federal wolf recovery coordinator Ed Bangs by saying “some duct tape across Mr. Bangs’ mouth” might be helpful in the negotiations.

The appointment of Luthi to the Fish and Wildlife Service may give Childers more ammo in his mission to eradicate wolves. And jockeying to ride the helicopter beside him is Gov. Freudenthal.

Besides justified concern about predation of livestock on private land, now the rallying cry for wolf opponents has become that wolves are “savaging” elk herds. The argument is being framed in terms of “protecting the state’s wildlife.”

There is ZERO evidence to support these claims, but like the national Republican Party m.o., the thinking here seems to be that if you repeat something enough, no matter how inaccurate, people will think it is true.

And the media will be lulled into reporting it.

By echoing the rants of people like Montana nutball Bob Fanning Jr. — who claims wolves are “devastating” the northern Yellowstone elk herd — Childers, Freudenthal and groups like Sportsmen for [Killing] Fish and Wildlife are filling the role Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and the Washington Times serve for Karl Rove.

A sampling:

• Freudenthal has asserted that wolves are causing “real damage” to wildlife and interfering with hunters. Informed that state elk herds exceed population objectives by 8,000, he responded by questioning the objectives. “I have hunted enough to wonder where they came up with those numbers,” he said.

• Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank, in a Jan. 30 AP story: “… we have wildlife herds that are in terrible shape because of an overpopulation of wolves …”

• Bob Wharff of Wyoming Sportsmen for [Killing] Fish and Wildlife, in the same story: “The one thing that the bill is lacking is the ability to protect the wildlife that the sportsmen of this state place a high value on.”

All this crying wolf over wolves apparently is working. Here’s the lead sentence to AP writer Ben Neary’s story on Jan. 22:

CHEYENNE — Gov. Dave Freudenthal says Wyoming can’t agree to a pending U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal for managing wolves in the state unless the federal agency gives the state a better way to stop wolves from savaging elk herds over the next several years.

Savaging! At no point during the story does Neary challenge this assertion.

To its credit, the Jackson Hole News&Guide has been doing an excellent job of reporting the science. This week Cory Hatch writes that the number of elk feeding on the refuge this year is on par with last year, about 6,600.

It’s one thing to warn against wolves eating cattle; it’s another to cry foul over wolves eating elk.

“What the hell are they supposed to be eating?” says Jorgensen, bewildered by the rhetoric.

Jorgensen would like to see the state accept the feds’ compromise, but he sees only a handful of votes for it among his colleagues. The issue is likely to drag on beyond this session, he says. “I think that’s exactly the way the Legislature wants it.”

Luthi plans to assume his duties Feb. 20.

The Alliance’s Camenzind was in Cheyenne last week to meet with legislators and participate in a few hearings. “It’s quite depressing to see the attitude,” he says. “There are some good people down there who would have a reasonable approach on wolf management, but they’re so outnumbered that they’re quite marginalized.”

Even with his re-election campaign behind him, Freudenthal continues to play redneck and pander to the good ol’ boys in the Legislature. He’s smarter than that. Perhaps he’s running for something else.

And what about that noted conservation champion and defender of wildlife, Sen. Grant Larson?

“I would not expect a whole lot of help from him,” Camenzind says.

Wyoming’s recalcitrance stands in contrast to Montana and Idaho, whose management plans have been approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We just look like jerks, I think,” says Jorgensen.

Ranchers who are losing stock and pets to wolves deserve our sympathy and protection of their rights (and in some cases, compensation). But the bloodthirstiness of some legislators, calling for the state to take an active role in killing wolves, on behalf of another wildlife species whose population has been artificially propped up to allow for greater killing by humans, is just sickening.

Posted under environment, hunting, politics, wildlife, wolves, wyoming legislature