ChubbyTuna
Active Member
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LAST EDITED ON Feb-14-11 AT 12:04PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Feb-14-11 AT 10:28?AM (MST)
LAST EDITED ON Feb-14-11 AT 10:26?AM (MST)
I recieved an email from my senator this morning in response to the delisting of the wolf. I used the form letter provided by Big Game Forever
http://capwiz.com/biggameforever/issues/alert/?alertid=25793501&PROCESS=Take+Actionthe
Although the letter is in support of the bill to delist wolves, the response I received from Senator Feinstein was thanking me for my support to protect the wolves. WTF. Do they even read the letter. It's like they saw the word wolf and just assumed I was for them.
Here is my original letter provided ny BGF. Next is the senators response and finally my response to their letter.
My original letter-
I write to express support for H.R. 509 and S.249, the American Big Game and Livestock Protection Act. These bills are long overdue. Gray wolf populations in the United States are out of balance with the ecosystem. The resulting damage to livestock, elk, moose, deer and other populations is of great concern.
The states, sportsmen and livestock owners have fulfilled their commitments to recover wolf populations. Wolf populations now far exceed long established and agreed upon recovery criteria. Excessive wolf densities are now degrading habitat carrying capacity of not only elk, moose, deer and other wildlife populations, but also wolves themselves. Notwithstanding these facts, the commitments to delist by the federal government pursuant to national wolf restoration plans have not been fulfilled. Wasteful litigation by extremist groups exploiting technicalities under the ESA have stopped all efforts by the Bush and Obama Administrations to delist wolf populations.
H.R. 509 and S.249 fulfills these commitments to return America's wolf populations to state wildlife protections. The hundreds of millions of dollars of annual damage resulting from unmanaged wolf populations is now being borne by family ranchers, small businesses and economies of the West and Midwest. It is time to put aside the divisive politics that are used against any group who petitions for the promises of the ESA to be fulfilled. Not only does such divisive rhetoric ignore the investment of states, sportsmen and livestock producers in wolf recovery, it is also counterproductive to a constructive dialog of the need of wolf populations to be managed responsibly.
This legislation is supported by a growing number of sponsors in Congress, at least 32 state fish and wildlife agencies and by state and national wildlife groups, including Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, Big Game Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Safari Club International, Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, National Rifle Association, U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife, Arizona Elk Society, Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, American Farm Bureau, National Cattleman's Beef Association, American Sheep Industry Association and the Public Lands Council.
Your position on this important legislation to protect our hunting and agricultural heritage is extremely important to me as a constituent and a voter.
Senator Feinsteins response- :0
I received your letter expressing your opposition to the gray wolf's removal from the endangered species list. I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome the opportunity to respond.
The Northern Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf, which includes wolves in all of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, the eastern third of Washington and Oregon, and a small part of north central Utah, was first listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1974. Since then, experimental populations were reintroduced in Yosemite and nearby areas, and the population numbers in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Recovery Plan were met in 2000. The wolves in Montana and Idaho have rebounded and the states have adopted management plans to protect them from becoming jeopardized again. A series of administrative actions and litigation regarding whether and how to delist and manage the wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains ensued.
Most recently, in April 2009, the Service adopted a Final Rule that removed the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf population from the list of endangered and threatened species in every state but one: Wyoming did not have a protective management plan in place. The 2009 Final Rule provided that wolves in Wyoming were to remain on the list of endangered species and be regulated pursuant to the Service's "experimental population" rules until Wyoming adopted an adequate management plan. However, several conservation groups filed a lawsuit in Federal district court challenging the delisting decision. On August 5, 2010, the court held that the species could not be partly delisted based on state lines, and ordered that the entire population remain on the list of endangered species until every affected state had a sufficiently protective management plan.
On September 28, 2010, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) introduced the "Restoring State Wildlife Management Act of 2010" (S. 3864), which would remove gray wolves in Montana and Idaho from the list of threatened or endangered species, and allow Montana and Idaho to manage them pursuant to state management plans approved by the Secretary of the Interior. S. 3864 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, of which I am not a member. Please know that I share your support for the recovery of gray wolves and will continue to monitor this situation.
Once again, thank you for writing. Should you have further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.
Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
My response to their letter-
Senator Feinstein,
First, thank you for your response to my letter. I find it encouraging that my concerns are actually heard by those they are intended for. Although your response was very thorough, I do not believe that you understood the essence of my original letter. I am in NO WAY supporting the protection of the grey wolf. Since their reintroduction, the grey wolf has far exceeded their original objective and have devastated the indigenous wildlife in these areas. For example, the Yellowstone population of both elk and moose is a fraction of its original population since the reintroduction of the wolf. I am not anti-wolf, but I do believe that since the objectives of the wolf reintroduction has been met, then they should be removed from the endangered species list and allowed to be manages by the individual states. Please reread my original letter below. I know that I can count on you to protect all the wildlife without favoring the high profile species favored by the media. Thank you again for your time.
LAST EDITED ON Feb-14-11 AT 10:26?AM (MST)
I recieved an email from my senator this morning in response to the delisting of the wolf. I used the form letter provided by Big Game Forever
http://capwiz.com/biggameforever/issues/alert/?alertid=25793501&PROCESS=Take+Actionthe
Although the letter is in support of the bill to delist wolves, the response I received from Senator Feinstein was thanking me for my support to protect the wolves. WTF. Do they even read the letter. It's like they saw the word wolf and just assumed I was for them.
Here is my original letter provided ny BGF. Next is the senators response and finally my response to their letter.
My original letter-
I write to express support for H.R. 509 and S.249, the American Big Game and Livestock Protection Act. These bills are long overdue. Gray wolf populations in the United States are out of balance with the ecosystem. The resulting damage to livestock, elk, moose, deer and other populations is of great concern.
The states, sportsmen and livestock owners have fulfilled their commitments to recover wolf populations. Wolf populations now far exceed long established and agreed upon recovery criteria. Excessive wolf densities are now degrading habitat carrying capacity of not only elk, moose, deer and other wildlife populations, but also wolves themselves. Notwithstanding these facts, the commitments to delist by the federal government pursuant to national wolf restoration plans have not been fulfilled. Wasteful litigation by extremist groups exploiting technicalities under the ESA have stopped all efforts by the Bush and Obama Administrations to delist wolf populations.
H.R. 509 and S.249 fulfills these commitments to return America's wolf populations to state wildlife protections. The hundreds of millions of dollars of annual damage resulting from unmanaged wolf populations is now being borne by family ranchers, small businesses and economies of the West and Midwest. It is time to put aside the divisive politics that are used against any group who petitions for the promises of the ESA to be fulfilled. Not only does such divisive rhetoric ignore the investment of states, sportsmen and livestock producers in wolf recovery, it is also counterproductive to a constructive dialog of the need of wolf populations to be managed responsibly.
This legislation is supported by a growing number of sponsors in Congress, at least 32 state fish and wildlife agencies and by state and national wildlife groups, including Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, Big Game Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Safari Club International, Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, National Rifle Association, U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife, Arizona Elk Society, Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, American Farm Bureau, National Cattleman's Beef Association, American Sheep Industry Association and the Public Lands Council.
Your position on this important legislation to protect our hunting and agricultural heritage is extremely important to me as a constituent and a voter.
Senator Feinsteins response- :0I received your letter expressing your opposition to the gray wolf's removal from the endangered species list. I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome the opportunity to respond.
The Northern Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf, which includes wolves in all of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, the eastern third of Washington and Oregon, and a small part of north central Utah, was first listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1974. Since then, experimental populations were reintroduced in Yosemite and nearby areas, and the population numbers in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Recovery Plan were met in 2000. The wolves in Montana and Idaho have rebounded and the states have adopted management plans to protect them from becoming jeopardized again. A series of administrative actions and litigation regarding whether and how to delist and manage the wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains ensued.
Most recently, in April 2009, the Service adopted a Final Rule that removed the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf population from the list of endangered and threatened species in every state but one: Wyoming did not have a protective management plan in place. The 2009 Final Rule provided that wolves in Wyoming were to remain on the list of endangered species and be regulated pursuant to the Service's "experimental population" rules until Wyoming adopted an adequate management plan. However, several conservation groups filed a lawsuit in Federal district court challenging the delisting decision. On August 5, 2010, the court held that the species could not be partly delisted based on state lines, and ordered that the entire population remain on the list of endangered species until every affected state had a sufficiently protective management plan.
On September 28, 2010, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) introduced the "Restoring State Wildlife Management Act of 2010" (S. 3864), which would remove gray wolves in Montana and Idaho from the list of threatened or endangered species, and allow Montana and Idaho to manage them pursuant to state management plans approved by the Secretary of the Interior. S. 3864 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, of which I am not a member. Please know that I share your support for the recovery of gray wolves and will continue to monitor this situation.
Once again, thank you for writing. Should you have further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.
Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
My response to their letter-Senator Feinstein,
First, thank you for your response to my letter. I find it encouraging that my concerns are actually heard by those they are intended for. Although your response was very thorough, I do not believe that you understood the essence of my original letter. I am in NO WAY supporting the protection of the grey wolf. Since their reintroduction, the grey wolf has far exceeded their original objective and have devastated the indigenous wildlife in these areas. For example, the Yellowstone population of both elk and moose is a fraction of its original population since the reintroduction of the wolf. I am not anti-wolf, but I do believe that since the objectives of the wolf reintroduction has been met, then they should be removed from the endangered species list and allowed to be manages by the individual states. Please reread my original letter below. I know that I can count on you to protect all the wildlife without favoring the high profile species favored by the media. Thank you again for your time.
