And I Am Not Crying Wolf!
By Trent Loos

In the name of Endangered Species, leave your door unlocked because if some US Fish and Wildlife official should want to evaluate the number of mice in your house you wouldn’t want him to have to break in. In some states, certain mice are listed as endangered and recent comments by U.S. District Judge Allan Johnson make that statement a real possibility. For the record, the United States currently has 519 species of animals are listed as endangered, threatened or proposed for listing.

Ralph Larson and son-in-law Randy Kruger operate a ranch near Meeteetse, WY. Kruger filed the suit against Mike Jimenez and Wes Livingston for trespassing and littering after he found them on his land. The men were collaring four tranquilized wolves because of depredation problems in the area. The two apologized by saying they did not realize where they were. Ironic isn’t it that the government places collars on wolves for tracking purposes but the individuals implementing the program don’t know how to read a map.

Judge Johnson ruled on the trespassing case last week that a federal wolf biologist's work should be protected under "sovereign immunity" because the agent was simply doing his job even though “his job” landed him on private property without permission from the landowner. I suppose this is a situation where the government is doing work for the good of the people?

A coalition of more than two dozen Wyoming agricultural, sportsmen and predator control groups, along with county governments, announced that they have served notice of intent to sue over the federal gray wolf recovery program. Ed Bangs, Rocky Mountain wolf coordinator for the (F&W) service, says he has no problem with citizens filing suit. "I don't trust government that much, so I'm glad we have a system where people can challenge these decisions." And he is the coordinator of the program?

In the same week, the US Fish and Wildlife announced the delisting of wolves from the Endangered Species list in the Eastern half of the country. The recovery effort has been so effective in states like MN, WI and MI that the number of wolves far exceeds the original recovery plan. In MN, the plan called for 1250 wolves and at last count there were over 2500.

It is reported that the only reason wolves are still listed in the West is because the state of Wyoming refuses to submit a statewide wolf recovery plan. So where are the limits to implementing the Endangered Species Act? Does the actual number of wolves make any difference or is this simply a strong-arm tactic used by the Federal Government in an attempt to conform everyone to their way of thinking?

oyce Morrison from Illinois wrote in her column last week, “as we watch our land taken out of food production, the elitist groups will be pulling the strings while the majority of the people will be worker bees giving what little they have for the "common good." This land that is taken will never again be returned to agriculture. Power is in the hands of those who control the food supply.”

Is it not enough that the vocal minority is dominating the control of Federal Lands, now we see an accelerating erosion of control of our own deeded private property? I realize the dangers of mentioning the name Adolph Hitler, but I have always been told that we study history to learn for the future. Perhaps its time to reflect on what Hitler wrote in 1920: "We demand a land reform in accordance with our national requirements, and the enactment of a law to confiscate from the owners without compensation any land needed for the common purpose.

Last night at a community celebration, I had gentleman tell me he was too busy to get involved in industry associations. This is one of my greatest frustrations in life. People always think they are too busy to proactively protect the freedoms we have gained through every major conflict and war. At some point, more of us better stop and think about the sacrifices that have been made to provide what we take for granted. Like the song says, “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.”

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