Freudenthal should be remembered for his use of anti-wolf hysteria- There are differences between Democrat Freudenthal and Republican Mead. However, on wolves it will probably be slight. Freudenthal, however, was a pioneer of sorts in using wild, irresponsible exaggeration of the impacts of wolves. Five years ago he was claiming that the then much smaller…
The Governor of Wyoming killed water regulations passed by a citizen board aimed at curtailing negative effects of coalbed methane water surges in the state. The board insisted the the methane-water increase in quanitity not implicate the quality of the water. Freudenthal claims the board over-reached. Some folks get upset when judges legislate, how about…
People can file the lawsuits in Idaho, Montana or Wyoming. It depends on where it is convenient for the group. Why should an Idaho group have to file in Wyoming? This is a federal issue and there is a federal court in Idaho, one in Montana, and one in Wyoming. It’s plainly obvious there are…
Except for the uninterested, and there a quite a few of them, the 21-year old controversy over wolf restoration in the West is not really about wolves. Unfortunately instead, it has become another “values” contest. To some degree it has also become another red versus blue dispute. When wolves were first reintroduced in 1995, with…
Wolf controversy is personal and cultural, not over biology- Except for the few people “on the fence” — those who have not chosen sides — the controversy over wolf restoration in the West is not really about wolves. When the wolves were first reintroduced beginning in 1995, there was some genuine debate over whether it…
Yesterday the Desert Independent reported that on Election Day, after being asked about the treatment of wild horses and allegations made in a recent ProPublica article about the illegal sale of wild horses to a slaughter facility in Mexico, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar turned to the reporter and said “If you set me up like this again,…
Conservation groups angry; Wyoming wolf population delisted- Wyoming politicians were the ones most opposed to the restoration of wolves to the American Northern Rocky mountains. They filed numerous lawsuits against the program, which they generally lost. Now they have won. The Obama Administration has delisted wolves in Wyoming, and a hunting season beginning Oct. 1 will begin…
On December 1st, at a presentation given by Bob Budd about the Wyoming Core Habitat Plan for sage grouse, it was pretty obvious that the livestock industry has things pretty much locked up with the agencies and politicians. The presentation was given in one of the big, new hearing rooms in the basement of the…
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.