Governors Seek 'road Map' For N. Rockies Wolves

After years of legal wrangling over wolf management, the Obama administration and three governors on Monday discussed crafting an end-game - including whether Congress should pull the plug on the debate by declaring the animals' numbers have fully recovered in the Northern Rockies. The federal government has been turned back twice in its efforts to get wolves off the endangered species list. Success would open the door to public hunting - something the governors of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming say is badly needed to keep the predators' expanding population in check. All three states are anxious to reduce wolf numbers to protect other wildlife and reduce livestock attacks. The frustration from the governors and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar "is that everybody recognizes that the (wolf) population is not only recovered, but it is robust," Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said after the meeting. "And why we can't get to de-listing, I think, is very frustrating for all of the people sitting around that table." The federal government originally said it wanted a wolf population of 300 wolves when it started its reintroduction program in the Northern Rockies in the 1990s. Biologists say there are now at least 1,700 wolves in parts of six states. Yet through a series of legal challenges over several years, environmental groups have stymied efforts to transfer wolf management from the federal government to the states...more

They sue to get them on and they sue to keep them on. The enviros have a national, coordinated administrative and legal strategy for endangered species, and we just stand around a say "damn, wish they wouldn't do that."

Until industry and land owners are willing to meet them punch for punch they'll continue to get whipped.

Step back and think about it. Three duly elected Governors and a Cabinet Secretary knowing the wolf has recovered but all they can do is meet and wring their hands. That's pitiful.