Montana’s Wolf Recovery Act: An Exercise In “We The People”?

I’m sure the majority of Americans know absolutely nothing of Montana Senate Bill 183, the Short Title being, “Montana Wolf Recovery Act”. As I understand the proceedings, the bill is up for second reading in Committee as small items get tweaked.

The Montana Wolf Recovery Act may be a preview of more of what is to come in this country as more and more people are becoming completely fed up with the shenanigans that go on in Washington and the takeover of environmentalism. Just today I posted a YouTube video of a reporter in the U.S. Senate building asking Senator Charlie Rangel to explain his current tax cheating, among other things. His response, “Why don’t you might your own god damn business!” It’s this sort of tyranny that is beginning to get to the people. It’s supposed to be “We the people” not mind your own god damn business.

SB 183, if passed as currently written, is a very tough action and I hope that when the lawmakers of that great state debate this bill, they will remain tough and stick to their demands no matter how far it must go.

You can read the bill yourself by clicking this link but let me run down briefly for you what the bill will do.

SB 183 will declare Montana a sovereign entity and that the United States government has not dealt in good faith with the state concerning the introduction of gray wolves. It has broken nearly every promise ever made and now with a wolf population that far exceeds any number the government promised, Montana is suffering in several ways.

This bill claims that the United States government lacks any legal authority to force wolves upon its people while at the same time forcing protection of wolves resulting in public safety concerns, property losses, economic hardships and loss of hunting opportunities. The presence of the wolf in Montana has put a financial drain on the state in many ways.

A good foundation that Montana has that some states don’t, is a constitutional guarantee to provide its citizens hunting opportunities.

Constitution of Montana — Article IX — ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Section 7. Preservation of harvest heritage. The opportunity to harvest wild fish and wild game animals is a heritage that shall forever be preserved to the individual citizens of the state and does not create a right to trespass on private property or diminution of other private rights.

The Montana Wolf Recovery Act seems to cover a lot of bases. Essentially the bill tells the federal government to get out. Informs them they acted illegally when introducing wolves and have not lived up to any of their promises. They are informing the feds they will deal with the wolves in their own manner and that the U.S. government will pay the bill and be liable for future expenses and any liability including property damage or loss and public safety and lawsuits.

Unique in this bill is that it clearly spells out how the state will deal with wolves once the bill is passed. They are not intending to wait on approval or a response from the feds.

Section 10. Wolf management policy — compliance criteria. To be in compliance with the Montana wolf management policy expressed in [sections 1 through 17], the wolf presence in Montana must meet the following criteria:

(1) The gray wolf must be removed from the United States’ list of endangered or threatened wildlife and the state list of endangered species.

(2) The statewide average for resident big game hunter success rates has not declined in the 3 most recent calendar years below the average of the 10 most recent calendar years.

(3) Wolf populations are at or below 150% of the target population of 150 wolves.

(4) Livestock predation by wolves, as determined by the county commissioners of any county in which wolf predation is alleged to have occurred, has not increased in the average of the 3 most recent complete calendar years above the average for the most recent 10 calendar years.

(5) Wolves present in the state are not afflicted with, carrying, or transmitting infectious diseases or parasites transmissible to humans or domestic or wild animals as determined by the state veterinarian.

SB 183 will revoke any and all previous wolf management plans and agreements reached with the federal government.

I know some people will be outraged to think that the state of Montana is presenting such a bill. I say, it’s about time and you can expect more bills to mirror the Montana one. Some will exclaim that it was just announced that the wolf will be removed from the ESA list. We have absolutely no reason to believe this will actually happen as the courts fully love the wolves as much as the wolf lovers who protect them. And even if the wolf was delisted, the management plans that the feds require for delisting allow for far too many wolves putting elk, deer and moose populations at risk and requires the states to fund those plans.

We cannot blame Montana for being forced into taking this kind of action. They, along with Idaho and Wyoming, have been lied to, they’ve had just about every promise made to them broken and in the onslaught of lawsuits by animal rights and environmental groups, the federal government has not worked for the states in which they released their wolves. In short, the U.S. Government has not lived up to any part of their agreements.

We also cannot blame the people of Montana for how they have been beaten down and trodden on by wolf advocate groups, never once wishing to make any kinds of concessions. Regardless of the facts, there just never seems to be enough wolves to make them happy. They too have not offered a hand to deal in an equitable, honest and decent manner and so we can now say they may get just what they deserve. Very unfortunate.

Those pushing the wolf protection and funding the lawsuits don’t live where the wolves got dumped, nor do they really care what happens to the people. This is one aspect of the Endangered Species Act that is so un-American and why the federal government should never be given that kind of power over a sovereign state. Now, Montana wants it back. I think we can expect similar moves from Idaho and Wyoming and if things continue the way they have, expect Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan to jump on board.

There is a divide growing in this country which should be troubling to you. There are those, like Montana, seeing their freedom to exist as a sovereign state slipping away, while on the other side a movement seeking more federal government power, a dangerous move against freedom.

There are currently as many as 26 states that have or are considering some form of legislative action wishing to affirm and/or restore state rights. I’ve not seen many of those bills or resolutions but this one is a strong one. Not only does this bill aggressively seek to end the people’s misery over the gray wolf, it wishes to put the U.S. Government on notice that they aren’t interested in federal interference in state affairs. AMEN!

What are we to think? I am encouraged that there are still Americans eager to protect and preserve the American heritage, the way of life that has made us great for without it, we become just another country, just another somebody needing to look elsewhere for our needs. That is a dangerous move.

I’ll continue to monitor the movement of SB 183 and report back when there is information important to its progress. If you are from Montana, contact your representative. Tell them you support state sovereignty and you want the feds out. If you’re not from Montana, maybe it’s time to get a movement started in your neck of the woods. Let’s return America to the people and out of the hands of big government and the animal rights/environmental machines. We can do this.

Tom Remington