Baucus Presses President's Pick for Fish and Wildlife Services Director to Help Put Montana Back in Control of Wolves

Press Release

Montana's senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus highlighted the urgent need for a solution that puts wolves in Montana back under state management today during a Senate hearing to confirm Daniel M. Ashe as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ashe was nominated to run the federal agency by President Obama.

"We have a problem in Montana and that problem is wolves. Montana's consensus-based approach to wolf management has demonstrated proven results with a successful wolf hunt that works for hunters, ranchers and wolves. But instead of being rewarded, Montana's success has been halted by the return of the wolf to the endangered species list," Baucus said. "Management has shifted back to Washington. Montanans don't need D.C. bureaucrats telling us how to manage wolves in our state. I have introduced legislation that will remove the wolf from the endangered species list and return it to state management. My goal is to turn back the clock to exactly where we were before the court decision, and my bill does just that."

Baucus and Senator Jon Tester introduced legislation last week to delist the Northern Rocky Mountain population of the gray wolves in Montana and Idaho from the endangered species list and return those wolves to state management. The Senators also sent a letter to Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar again urging quick action to approve Montana's application to hunt wolves in the West Fork of the Bitterroot this year. This application is in conjunction with the Senators' request to hold a state-wide gray wolf hunt.

The Baucus-Tester bill would restore management practices as they were before the 2010 court ruling that resulted in the return of the gray wolf to Federal management under the Endangered Species Act. Before that court decision, a Fish and Wildlife Service Rule had delisted those portions of the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf population in Montana and Idaho and put the states in charge of managing wolves. The Baucus-Tester bill codifies that rule, returning the wolf once again to state management and taking it off the endangered species list.

Baucus and Tester have been working toward a solution to put Montana back in control of wolves since the 2010 court ruling and first introduced legislation in September 2010. The Senators have since been working with their colleagues in the House and Senate, along with Governors in the affected states and the Department of Interior, to reach a solution for Montana ranchers, farmers and hunters as quickly as possible. Baucus and Tester sent letters urging Secretary Salazar to work with the Governors in December of last year and earlier this month.

While pursuing legislation, Baucus has also pressed Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Director Rowan Gould to take action to bring wolves in northern Montana under the same management rules as those in the southern half of the state and to allow all Montana landowners to protect their property from wolves.

Today's hearing was held in the Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Source