Some time ago, and repeatedly since that first time, I have spoken about how the war on public opinion would eventually shift in an anti-wolf direction if the wolf loving cretins didn’t stop changing the rules of the game while exposing their avaricious desires for more wolves in more places. In truth this can be more precisely explained as the environmentalists’ appetite for the money they get the longer they can keep the wolf issue tied up in court and in the public eye – that is until someone comes along and pokes you in the eye.

That time appears to be well upon the people of Idaho and perhaps even the Governor of the Gem State. Not only do we have some hunters and those fighting for wolf reductions, discussing whether it is ethical to shoot wolves that are seen in the woods, Governor Otter informed Secretary Salazar that Idaho will no longer be the heavy in investigating complaints about ESA violations and wolves. Here’s his statement to the Secretary.

Further, consistent with the Commission’s recommendation, Idaho will no longer be the lead investigator regarding ESA violations as they pertain to wolves. Idaho will refer such matters to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

I take that to mean that if you think someone is illegally killing a wolf, don’t call Idaho authorities. Evidently the Governor and his Board of Commissioners have reached a point they are starting to see the gray wolf as a “despised nuisance”, as Governor Otter so described in his letter. To that end we now have to question what, if any, effort IDFG or any other state law enforcement agency will expend to stop a poacher?

Whether we like it or not, it is unlawful to kill a protected species but this is what it has come down to. It actually pains me to no end that I now have to say, “I told you so!”

Tom Remington

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When most people hear turkey hunting they generally associate it with a strutting tom and the beautiful sound of a gobble during the spring. Learning the art of fall turkey hunting not only increases your chances of putting a bird in the freezer for Thanksgiving, it allows you to learn more about turkeys and how they live throughout the year, not solely during the mating season. This can benefit the spring turkey hunter as well. By having more knowledge of your quarry, such as their vernacular, social structure and how to locate them, you can add more to your book of strategies. Fall hunting requires more woodsmanship than calling ability. One of the most important tasks at hand is locating birds in the fall. They have a more broad range during this time of the year due to diminishing food sources.

The Basics:

There are two basic angles to hunting fall turkeys. Hunting bachelor flocks and hunting what I call brood flocks. Bachelor flocks consist of mature gobblers and brood flocks consist of the adult hens and their offspring. During the fall, a hunter has to realize that he is capitalizing on a turkey’s urge for companionship, their need to establish a pecking order and just overall curiosity. He is also putting his woods skills to the test by finding his birds. Finding a viable food source and water is essential to finding your birds. Patterning birds in the fall can be quite challenging but putting food and water on the top of your scouting list will pay dividends. Turkeys will continue to use a food source until it is exhausted and will water in the same areas if available. Use this to your advantage. Traditional roosting sites out west are a sure bet to finding your fall birds but, here in the southeast I don’t feel are as common. This is due to the variety of roosting areas that are available. Put your time in the woods scouting for sign very similar to the methods used in the spring. Look for tracks, dusting areas, and scratching. Keep in mind your more likely to find flocks of birds and not single birds, although finding a lone gobbler is not all that uncommon. More often when you find one, you will find multiple birds, whether bachelor flocks or brood flocks. Spend time in the woods and frequent areas that birds are likely to be feeding and you’ll find your turkeys. How many times have you heard deer hunters say “You should have seen all the turkeys I saw on the stand!!” Use this knowledge to your advantage.

Bachelor Flocks:

During the spring we all know that generally you’ll have your dominant gobbler and your subordinate gobblers in any given area that holds birds. During the fall, take away that breeding urge and your left with the same gobblers. These gobblers will often flock together, I feel for companionship. Do not be confused. There is still a pecking order established between these birds. Now once you’ve conducted reconnaissance on the birds in your area, your safest bet is to set up and blind call or move and call.

Blind calling is referred to as sitting in one area and just calling randomly, not engaged in a conversation with a bird. Use gobbler yelps and clucks and call sparingly, but with enough frequency for a bird to not pass your position without hearing your calling. Basically every 10 to 15 minutes. Gobbler yelping is very similar to hen yelping but with a slower rhythm and a deeper tone. On paper it would appear as “yawk”—-”yawk”—-”yawk”—-“yawk”—-”yawk”—-”yawk”. As opposed to hen yelping, yelp-yelp-yelp-yelp-yelp. Gobbler clucking again is similar to hens clucking but with a noticeably deeper tone. Throw in some deeper purring just to add realism. Once you get a response, call them just enough to pique there interest. Hopefully they will come to investigate the newcomer. Hunting these birds takes an enormous amount of patience. Its almost as if your still hunting but adding some vocalizations into the mix.

Running and gunning can be effective but, be mindful of your surroundings. Less foliage on the trees and the birds not being as vocally responsive can be a challenge. Without the birds giving away their location the chance of spooking them is much greater walking through the open timber. Remember patterning these birds and hunting near feeding areas is going to put you in their living room. You can even build a blind to gain comfort and conceal movement.

Brood Flocks:

These birds have a very tight knit social grouping. They live each day, all day together. You’re going to have to act upon this to bag your fall bird. Very similar to hunting bachelor flocks there are two basic methods. Blind calling and moving and calling. The type of calling employed is quite different than what is used to call bachelor flocks. While trying to locate or communicate with a brood flock, I’m going to conduct some assembly yelping , lost yelping and kee-kee running. Assembly or lost yelping is the same basic call. They are both 15-20 note yelps given with inflection. The assembly yelp is given by the brood hen when a flock is scattered. She emits these long series of yelps soon after the flock is broken apart. This is how she gathers her brood. The lost yelp, is when a bird is all alone by itself and is looking for companionship. I don’t feel a turkey is ever lost. I feel its more of a locating call. When giving these yelps just remember to visualize a turkey looking for company and pleading to gain there acquaintance. Kee-keeing is the whistle of the young birds. Long before a poult’s voice has developed enough to produce yelps, they can only whistle. As they become more mature their voice will allow them to yelp. They will then combine kee-keeing in conjunction with yelping, producing the kee-kee run. The kee-kee sounds like its spelled on paper. Kee kee kee—–kee kee kee kee. Kee kee running would appear as Kee kee kee —– kee kee kee kee – yelp yelp. Produce a series of this call ending with two to four yelps, with three or four complete sets in a series. Kee Keeing is best performed with a mouth call. For the beginner, I would highly suggest a Quaker Boy Kee Kee diaphragm. It is a clear call that has two thin reeds with no cut and will whistle with ease. For the more advanced caller I would prefer a World Champ mouth. You can attain the same realistic whistle with a raspy yelp.

When blind calling your trying to lure the birds in by piquing their curiosity. The flock will hopefully move into your position because they are investigating the new comer. Mix up your calling with several series of assembly/lost yelps starting each series with clucking and adding clucking in between your series. The next calling sequence, give a chorus of kee-kee runs. Call quite often and even call with multiple calls. Again, we’re trying to use a turkey’s curiosity and need for companionship to coax them into gun range.

Scattering the flocks:

This is an age old tradition when hunting fall turkeys. I feel this is definitely best accomplished by two hunters. Many times a hunter will get close enough to flush a flock only to have them fly off in the same direction and regroup before a hunter has a chance to set up and call them. If you’ve spotted a flock, have you and a buddy come in from different directions, then running in spooking them. Hopefully they will scatter in different directions. Once you’ve scattered a brood flock wait and quietly listen for them to start yelping and kee-keeing. If the birds did not flush too far from where you scattered them and you start hearing multiple birds, set up right there and begin your calling. Call very often. Assembly yelping and kee-kee running will be your best bet. At this point do not be afraid to call.

If the birds have flushed too far to set up where the flush occurred, then reposition to where the majority of the flock escaped your ambush and again wait and listen for them to start calling. Then begin your calling. In my opinion it is imperative that you do not start calling until the birds start calling. I feel this way you know the birds are calm enough to start the regrouping process.

If you’ve busted a bachelor flock, rely on your gobbler yelps and deep gobbler clucks, but calling more sparingly. A bachelor flock has much less urge to regroup than a brood flock. Many times the gobblers will not regroup, hence seeing lone long beards sometimes in the fall. But, its definitely worthy of a valiant effort.

Just remember scouting is going to be your main key to success. Fall turkey hunting can be productive with or without calling. You have to know where the turkeys are frequenting and put yourself in these areas. Many times I’ve had fall flocks never respond to a call, but my knowledge and patterning of the birds put me in a position to fill my tag. Other times the calling is what made the difference and definitely made the hunt more exciting. Fall turkey hunting generally doesn’t involve gobbling and strutting but hearing a bird kee-kee can be equally satisfying. It’s a sound that many hunters will never hear unless they put their time in the woods. Just know bagging a long beard, a jake, or even a hen in the fall is a great accomplishment. Many old timers will tell you spring hunting is great fun but the real test is harvesting a bird in the fall.

Scott Ellis
Woodhaven Custom Calls -Sting Team

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It is formatted in style similar to the Drudge Report and is automatically updated every few seconds. I would suggest, as I do each morning, to open up CamoUnderground and keep it open throughout the day so you can easily open the tab and check the latest headlines. This is sure to be a great resource.

Tom Remington

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” I think this greatly oversimplifies the controversy over how wildlife should be managed in the West. Recall the the majority of lands that fall within the boundaries of the state of Idaho are owned by the citizens of the United States and managed for those citizens by Federal agencies. The history of wildlife management in the U.S. predates, in large part, the federal agencies that now control these lands. Thus, F&G agencies have always maintained a high degree of control over wildlife on federal lands (though their influence is lessened in National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges). Also recall that nearly all of the places that wolves exist in the NRMs are federal lands (note: in the most recent Final Rule, the FWS didn’t even consider eastern Montana “suitable” for wolves). Finally, recall that F&G commissions are historically dominated by two interest groups: hunters and livestock producers. Thus, traditionally, much of our federal public lands in the West have been managed for these groups. Yet, livestock production and hunting are both in decline, meaning the people that have the strongest voice in wildlife management are fewer and fewer, while the US population continues to grow. Thus, the federal lands of the West are managed disproportionately for a shrinking constituency. The ESA changes the balance of management for protected species by giving a voice to people outside of the borders of these states–and especially–by giving a voice to non-hunters. ” Jeremy Bruskotter..

His claims that livestock producers are a dominant controller of Idaho wild life is a flat out lie, Idaho has less than two million acres used for public live stock use via lease options, while Idaho is fifty plus million acres. This is just another environmentalist groups conspiracy theory with little financial or legal proof. As well the Roberts-Pittman Act fund is a national tax paid by the nations hunters and those funds are used by all states wild life agencies to maintain wild life, and provide hunters with harvesting opportunities in those states whether residents or non residents. Hunting is in decline because mismanagement of wild predators has depleted the prey base both wild predators and hunters share. Livestock production is in decline because of environmentalist groups like Western Watersheds Projects, the Sierra Club, and state and federal agencies implementing United Nations anti farming, ranching, and hunting agenda’s, known specifically as Agenda 21, Sustainable Development and Bio-Diversity. Hunting, fishing, and meat consumption according to these reports cannot be sustained into the future thus these practices must be eliminated.

It should be noted that Jeremy Bruskotter frequents censured blogs only and refuses to consider all angles and agendas shared here. He fits with the mass man mentality, the collectivist elitist thinking which will be the ruin of National Sovereignty and America as we know it. Watching a nations peoples consumed with national suicide leading to the Globalist New World Order of Centralized Government controls..

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Tom Remington

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Elk Chronicles is the official television program of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Presented by MidwayUSA, episodes air Tuesdays at 11:30 p.m. (EST), Sundays at 4:30 p.m. (EST) and Wednesdays at 6:00 a.m. (EST).

The new shows feature co-hosts Cameron Hanes and Brandon Bates along with a cast of hunters and conservationists in some of America’s best elk country. Legendary areas like Arizona’s White Mountains and New Mexico’s Double H Ranch, UU Bar Ranch and NRA Whittington Center are featured, as well as areas of Utah, Montana, Colorado and Wyoming. Archery, primitive firearms and conventional rifle hunts are slated.

In a very special episode, RMEF President and CEO David Allen joins legendary outdoor writer Jim Zumbo for an elk hunt with U.S. military veterans.

“Bugling bulls, spectacular landscapes, packhorses and wall tents. It’s the stuff that every hunter dreams about and we’re pleased to bring it to Outdoor Channel viewers,” said Allen. “We hope Elk Chronicles conveys both the excitement of the hunt as well as the urgent need to conserve habitat for elk, deer, other big game and all kinds of wildlife.”

To check local listings on Outdoor Channel, visit www.outdoorchannel.com.

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~~~~~

I live on a horse ranch in the foothills of the Absaroka Mountains, 25 miles north of Yellowstone National Park. I exercise my horses and myself in the mountains everyday year round. When I observe and participate in nature it is with the eye of a big game hunter and biology major. I received my degree from the University of Notre Dame, back in the early 1970’s. In those days ecology was a science, now it has become a religion.

I’ve noticed a change in those mountains over the past 7 years, and I’m certain if the American people had any idea what was going on in Yellowstone and the surrounding area, they would be appalled and very angry. Prior to wolf introduction in 1995, there were 19,500 elk in the great northern Yellowstone elk herd, over 300 big horn sheep in the ten square miles around Gardiner, Montana, abundant moose, antelope and mule deer. Now we have fewer than 10,000 elk and 40 big horn sheep. Montana state moose biologist Kurt Alt tells us the moose are all but wiped out. The National Academy of Science, in its’ March 2002 report, tells us that the antelope population is a small fraction of what it was. A Montana Game Warden north of Yellowstone Park tells us the mule deer population is also in real trouble. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Wolf Project Coordinator admits in the press that there are 560 wolves and 150 pups this year with anywhere between 34 to 46 breeding pairs depending on your definition of breeding pair. The Project Coordinator himself, Ed Bangs, says, “There are too many wolves.” Despite intense public pressure to delist and control wolves, the outlook for delisting in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming is very bleak. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife now wants to hold us hostage until Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado gets a good healthy dose of wolves.

Wolf introduction has become a big business. Defenders of Wildlife alone raise over $21,000,000 a year tax-free. Sending bulk mail to urban soccer moms with cross hairs on a wolf puppy telling them to send money to save wolves from being poisoned and their babies from being clubbed to death in their dens by the mean old ranchers. They never mentioned that the mean old rancher that would do this would be convicted of a felony and face a $100,000 fine and a year in federal prison for violating the Endangered Species Act.

Wolf recovery is also big business for biologists. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has created a huge bureaucracy originally formed to introduce 78-100 wolves in Yellowstone Park, but now expanded to put wolves into any rural area in America where there is an agricultural or hunting culture. If you can’t make money in spotted owls, then get into wolves, the DOT.com job for biologists.

Lawyers, especially lawyers, love wolves too! Environmental organizations like Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation have legal departments that rival IBM and GM in size. They are motivated to sue over ESA issues. The Federal court system routinely awards them fees and costs if they are the catalysts for legal action and win. What kind of lawyers like wolves? Ted Turner hosted 140 lawyers from the “Earth Justice League” at a resort a couple of miles from my home. One out of six called ahead and ordered a “vegan” diet which excludes any animal or fish product. I have no problem with their diet, just when they use the judicial system to impose it on the rest of us.

The organization I formed in 1999 has 3742 members, most of whom live in the area just north of Yellowstone. We have been calling attention to the total annihilation of our game herds for 4 years now and were roundly criticized as alarmists and extremists as the wolf recovery team assured the public through the dutiful press, that the elk herd, which acts as a buffer between predators and our cattle industry, was in fine shape. Eventually our cries for help were heard this year by the Chair and Vice Chair of the Montana House Fish and Wildlife and Parks Committee, Dan Fuchs and Joe Balyeat. Both senior lawmakers accuse the wolf bureaucracy of a cover-up. They came down to count the ratios of calf to cow elk themselves. We went into the field and came up with a ratio of 12 surviving calves per one hundred cow elk. This statistic was verified by the National Park Service survey that was released shortly there after. The 23-year average that proceeded wolf recovery was 33 calves per hundred cows.

Subsequently when the fur started flying in our State Legislature and in the Montana press, Carrie Schaeffer of Michigan Tech University, working under Dr. Rolf Peterson, did a study that came to surface in 1998-1999. She counted 4600 head of elk. This was huge scientific sampling. She concluded that the calf to cow (elk) ratio was zero to ten per hundred, confirming our assertions over the past four years that a biological crisis of catastrophic proportions had been going on. Yellowstone Park knew of the Schaeffer study, withheld the information from the American public in order to protect their wolf bureaucracy, and intentionally lied to the press for 4 solid years. The decision to suppress scientific information was made at the top by Glenn Plumb, Yellowstone’s supervisory biologist.

When wolf recovery was proposed in 1988, Congress appropriated monies to study the proposed experiment. Congress instructed those who made the request to introduce wolves that: hunting should not be hurt, the local economy should not be hurt, and the Grizzly Bear should not be impacted. With these marching orders from Congress, a team of 15 PHD’s [Delphi 15], who specialized in Predator/Prey biology, came back and published “Wolves for Yellowstone? A Report to Congress and the Department of Interior Vol. 1” in 1991.” They said the 250 square miles in and around Yellowstone could hold 78-100 wolves at full capacity if it was done over a 10-20 year period. This esteemed body of scientists insisted in 1991 and again in September 1995, because no one knew for sure what impact a new keystone predator would have on the unadapted prey species, that intensive monitoring of the prey should be done, otherwise the Yellowstone Ecosystem would be forever and irreparably harmed. (See P.11 Peterson, Gassaway & Messier report to DOI dated 9/95) America deserves to know who authorized the wolf recovery team to ignore the Delphi 15. Yellowstone Park and the wolf recovery team admitted in the Bozeman Chronicle in the winter of 2000 that these studies were not done each year citing bad weather, lack of funding, lack of equipment, and lack of qualified personnel.

America deserves to know why the mandated studies were not done. We in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming have jumped through hoop after hoop trying to get the wolf delisted from the List of Endangered Species so we can manage this destructive predator and prolific breeder ourselves.

Like Islam has been hijacked by extremists, environmental organizations have been hijacked by extremists. They now threaten to terrorize us with their biological weapon the wolf. We can look forward to being tied up in court for eternity if we try and delist the wolf as an endangered specie from it’s un-deserved protected status as; “experimental non-essential”. The ultimate strategy is to buy more time for this predator to breed at a 34% rate per year. Each wolf eats a biomass of at least 25 Elk per year; not counting the surplus killing of elk calves. We now have at least 720 wolves; and in 3 short years we could easily be at 1732. This means 43,300 elk per year are going to be fed to wolves without any new replacement calves. Since Montana, according to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, only has 130,000 elk, it wont be long until the wolf turns its attention to beef cattle, in a degree much larger than is already occurring.

Chris Smith, Chief of Staff for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks stated May 31, 2002 to the press after hearing the U.S. Fish Wildlife service presentation regarding delisting the wolf, “this will be tied up in political and legal knots for years to come.”

Our only hope in Montana and the other affected states is asserting our sovereignty over our land and natural resources. I know that if I was to be elected Governor of Montana in ’04 that I would set an agenda that would take our state, its land and its natural resources (of which wildlife is one) back from Federal Agencies and the environmental extremist organizations who have imposed their political agendas on us. Burdensome Federal interference and regulation has cost Montana jobs, tax revenue and impedes growth and development, placing it near the bottom (46) state economies.

It is grossly unfair that the livestock operator has to wait for a delisting that may never occur. It is a violation of the 5th amendment and its “takings” clause to turn these uncontrolled predators on his stock without compensation, going to bed each night wondering how much he will lose through the night. John Paul Hubbard, a rancher bordering Yellowstone Park, estimates that since wolves have been introduced in ’95, has lost in excess of $100,000 but cannot prove his losses. Montana Stock Growers tell us that they believe that contrary to what the wolf recovery people admit to, wolf depredation of livestock in Montana is 500% to 700% more, but again losses cannot be proven.

The wolf is a nocturnal hunter, the “blood on the paws” policy of reimbursement places the burden of proof on the livestock producer. The heavy burden of identifying the ACTUAL PREDATOR rests squarely on the shoulders of the livestock producer. Just think about it, a criminal breaks into your home and kills a loved one and you are obliged to prove their guilt to law enforcement. There are a lot of criminals doing life in prison after a weaker standard of evidence was presented at their trial. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 specifically forbids the act be used for economic or social reasons. The predator Program should be acknowledged for what it is; a biological means to undercut the Taylor Grazing act, destroy the ranching business, and confiscate land when those businesses fail. Sounds like a conspiracy theory? You be the judge.

Mike Phillips, the movie star handsome, media savvy biologist who introduced the wolf into Yellowstone Park in ’95 spoke to a group of 600 people from 44 states and 24 countries in Duluth, MN., on February 24, 2000. He said the goal of wolf introduction was to drive 30,000 ranchers from public lands. His power point presentation was video taped by the University of Minnesota and the International Wolf Center, Ely, Minnesota reported 2/25/02 on Page A20 of the “Minnesota Star Tribune”, and the May edition of “Wyoming Agricultural”. Three of “Friends of The Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd.” Paid $206 to attend. Bob Hanson a retired investment banker memorialized the remarks in affidavit form. Now, fully realizing the implication of making those remarks in a public forum, Phillips vehemently denies he made them. Mike Phillips and former Yellowstone National Park Superintendent, Mike Findley now work for Ted Turners’ Endangered Species Fund, an organization that vigorously promotes wolves. Turner is a self-described socialist and Americas’ largest private landowner. The public has a right to know why former Yellowstone National Park Superintendent ignored Congress’ instructions and the warnings given by Delphi 15. Only a Congressional investigation will be able to determine whether or not there was a Quid Pro Quo exchanging jobs for our wildlife, achieving a political end.

The American people apparently agreed with the early premise of wolf recovery into Yellowstone Park, and have learned to love wolves as featured on nature programs. They are entitled to know both sides of the story, not just the side that would be told by Aldo Leopold. Aldo Leopold, conservationist and bio-ethicist was born in 1887, the dawn of Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation movement. At that time game herds, predators and natural resources were decimated to the point of crisis. Leopold wrote “you cannot love the game but hate the predators. You can regulate them, but not abolish them.” Wolf recovery advocates aspire to be apostles of Leopold. L.David Mech, the wolf biologist, for the past thirty years is his best-known disciple. Mech wrote in his book “The Wolf”, that, “unfortunately, there still exists in certain elements of human society an attitude that any animal (except man) that kills another is a murderer….to these people the wolf is a most undesirable creature”, fostering an attitude of us versus them, he went on to write “these people cannot be changed.” If the wolf is to survive the wolf haters must be out numbered. They must be out financed, and out voted.” You’re either a wolf hater or you’re in complete agreement with their science, values, press releases, tactics and philosophy. This leaves those of us who live in wolf country following the revolution in quite a dilemma. How do you clean up the mess made by zealots who overreached and exceeded the instructions of Congress and the parameters set by their own PH.D.s, known as the Delphi 15.

What Mech forgot to mention is that since 1937, when the Pittman-Robertson Act began collecting $6 billion from sportsmen, that Americas’ game herds are in the best shape ever. Despite this fact, wolf advocates who want to feed our wildlife to their wolves are convinced that they and only they should have the exclusive say in Leopolds’ version of regulation. When wolf advocates control the regulatory process, agendas and values that are anti-ranching, anti-property rights, and anti- hunting can be implemented.

Anyone who questions them is an enemy to be marginalized, attacked and diminished as in extremists, alarmists, or just plain ignorant. It is this exclusion from the adaptive management process, this arbitrary, arrogant, self-righteousness that has polarized people in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, brought law abiding citizens to the verge of civil disobedience and laid the ground work for what is commonly known as the “war for the west”. What is the root of all this distrust?

Drs. Taylor and Walters warned in July ‘89 in a report to YNP and the Dept. of Interior of the potential for major conflict arising from wolf introduction. They called for thoughtful interaction among scientists, wildlife managers (state and federal) and resources users (ranchers and hunters). They concluded that “to introduce wolves before adaptive management has reached maturity and consensus would be irresponsible”. Needless to say these warnings and recommendations not only went unheeded, but anyone who was not in the wolf introduction camp; livestock interests, state legislatures, fish and game authorities, outside scientists with a different opinion, or hunting interests, were systematically excluded from the process and routinely lied to.

It is because of this premeditated exclusion that our wildlife in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have been decimated and our livestock industry which relies on the wildlife as a buffer between predators is at great risk due to uncontrolled predators, especially that prolific breeder, who has no natural predators, the wolf.

Why in this time of national peril that follows the tragedy of 9/11 are we not unified in our democratic republic when our survival depends on it? In my view it is for one reason, it is over a theory, the theory of Natural Regulation. Remember that once there was a theory that the earth was flat. The theory of Natural Regulation is just as invalid, just as flawed and just as widely accepted as the flat earth theory was in the dark ages. The theory of natural regulation is the philosophical cornerstone of the social engineers in the extreme green movement. Without the theory of natural regulation, wildlife and forest managers would be accountable to the American public and responsible for their actions or inaction. The deep ecology movement has decided that man’s presence, participation in, and stewardship of nature is unnatural and all wild places must be off limits to human activity. It is absolutely essential to those who politicize science in order to make it fit agendas, such as the special interests of environmental groups or that of governmental agencies, i.e. USFWS and NPS, to exclusively control the definition of natural regulation. For example, if forest fires wipe out a third of Yellowstone Park with a holocaust fire like it did in 1988, or wolves kill half the great Northern Yellowstone elk herd, it was just nature doing its’ thing. No one to blame, no government jobs lost, no public outcry, no conflicting values from various stakeholders, no outside scientific debate or peer review.

This past March ‘02, the National Academy of Science made a profound impact that resonates throughout the scientific world. In a report that was dedicated to the study of alleged overgrazing of Yellowstone National Park the esteemed body of scientists categorically refuted the long held belief, that environmental organizations used to justify wolf introduction, that YNP was in crisis from overgrazing.

The highest scientific voice in the land, that rescued water starved ranchers in Klamath, Oregon, stated that the policy adopted by park authorities in 1971 of “Natural Regulation” was invalid and should be abandoned. Imagine how the proponents of the U.N. Wildlands Project or those who believe the entire Yellowstone ecosystem should be turned into a national park must have reacted!

Take away the theory of natural regulations from the social engineers of the deep ecology movement and you have taken away the thing they most rely on, public sentiment that drives funding for their organizations, their lawyers, and political support for their anti-property right, anti-ranching, anti-hunting, anti-second amendment extreme vegan agenda. (For the entire report visit the academies website at www.nationaacademies.org)

We can only hope that YNP Superintendent Lewis will hold to her word and “follow the committees’ recommendations”, especially on page 103 where scientists from NAS advise regarding wolf and game herd management.

“Resolving these conflicts will require all the vision, intellectual capacity, financial resources and goodwill that can be brought to bear on them”. We certainly hope so, Ms. Lewis because as this piece is written, we are told that we must rely on wolves naturally regulating their own numbers!

Since the Endangered Species Act has become a vehicle that is undermining the republic and state sovereignty over natural resources, allowing urban majority to impose its’ political will on the rural minority, contrary to the intent of the Framers of the Constitution, it must be rewritten with all the affected stakeholders; state wildlife authorities, ranchers, hunters and private property holders at the bargaining table. To this point they have been systematically excluded from the process by the tax-exempt environmental foundations, their legions of lawyers incentivized to file lawsuits, and career bureaucrats who politicize science.

Only when the adaptive management process is followed prior to the listing or introduction of wolves (or any other real or manufactured endangered species) into your state should you even entertain the concept, otherwise you will suffer the same thing we have experienced in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem; an unmitigated, unmanageable debacle which has long term implications and unintended consequences associated with this experiment gone horribly wrong with no end in sight.

Copywritten & Submitted for Publication 6/01/02

Robert T. Fanning, Jr.

Chairman and Founder

“Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd, Inc.”

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As someone recently called an “ignorant jerk” by a state fish and wildlife employee denying that state fish and wildlife agencies serve the federal fish and wildlife agency more than their own state’s residents, I believe
it is an opportune time to clear the air about state agencies’ priorities.

When I say that state biologists are less and less reliable for truth about big game numbers or wolf numbers or the effects of burning or cutting pheasant winter and nesting cover or the benefits of brown trout, etc.,
in order to curry favor with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the environmental, animal rights, and anti-gun organizations that are in control of federal agencies and federal policies today, I am merely pointing out the obvious.

The state agencies no longer support hunting, fishing, and trapping just as more and more they enable the dismantling of all renewable natural resource uses and the active management of renewable natural resources from logging to grazing. Like their federal cousins (US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, et al) they have accepted the radical’s vision of a future USA wherein hunting, fishing, trapping, grazing, logging, etc. on both public and private property are forbidden. They accept the loss of hunting, fishing, and trapping license revenue as inevitable as has been the gradual elimination of revenue-sharing and payments-in-lieu-of-taxes from federal landholdings to state and local governments. They see growing federal
landholdings as no longer subject to state authority. They see private property becoming more and more federally-owned and controlled. They see Lobby Groups like The Nature Conservancy controlling more and more property through easements and ownership as they become more and more powerful due to their “partnership” with federal agencies to whom they sell property at a hefty profit and with whom they cooperate.

State jobs and state programs are believed to be and seen to be becoming increasingly dependent on federal money and thus on the dispensers of that largesse. Angering US Fish and Wildlife Service “Administrators” is the last thing a state fish and wildlife employee would do. Conversely, pleasing such “Administrators” is far more important to careers and agencies than state taxpayer groups concerned with narrow interests like elk or ranchers.

Most readers are familiar with much of the money funneling from the US Congress THROUGH the US Fish and Wildlife Service (for a fee of course) to state agencies. There are the hunting and fishing excise taxes, the
grants and projects for states to do research or manage particular species like Endangered Species or all the politically expedient and ephemeral things like global warming justifications, Keystone Species, Desertification,
Species of Concern, Environmental Education (i.e. propaganda), “Interpretation”, “Cooperative Projects”, “Eco-tourism”, “Non-Consumptive Wildlife”, Bird-watching, “Research” and Reporting” on everything from bats
to turtles, etc., etc. Each of these federal remunerations creates pressure on the agency steering wheel to veer it from state priorities toward federal environmental/animal rights/anti-gun priorities. Each federal “gift” is an excuse to hire anti-use and anti-management personnel steeped in antipathy toward the reasons such agencies exist. Would any state undertake such things with state funds if answerable only to state taxpayers and state residents?

Occasionally there is a “gift that keeps on giving” that goes unmentioned in these “laws” and is never even audited. For instance and as but one example, when the sport-fishing excise tax law was “amended” by US
Senators Breaux of Louisiana and Wallop of Wyoming in 1984 to divert a portion of the gasoline tax used for boating to state boating classes, etc. it contained the following chestnut. In addition to their annual share ($20 to $30M/year) of the sport fishing taxes, the state of Louisiana received $100m/year to reverse coastal land subsidence (think about that). The reason coastal Louisiana was subsiding and continues to “subside” is all the flood control and improved farm soil management in the Mississippi and Missouri River watershed that has reduced the annual silt load that used to be deposited regularly all around the Mississippi River Delta. Be that as it may, about 8 years ago I asked an auditor (before he was fired) that had been to Louisiana if they “audited” those funds and his answer was that they were distributed to each (not just coastal) Parish where they were used by County officials however they wanted. Let’s see 26 years, $100K per year, ummm – why that’s “real” money!

Even what has been going on right beneath our noses for 4 decades now doesn’t tell the whole story. Periodic accumulations of little-noticed “federal” dollars further confirms the determination of state employees to curry favor with federal overseers for possible future jobs or funding. For instance and in addition to what you already see, as of today (June 2010), there are four little-noticed yet BIG pots of federal money slopping
around US Fish and Wildlife Service that I am sure have not gone unnoticed by hopeful state “cooperators”.

1. “Stimulus” money in the hundreds of millions has been divided up by US Fish and Wildlife Service amongst field stations, Regional Offices, and Washington. As field station “backlogs” are being met and “priority”
environmental tasks addressed, the Regional office near me will be physically moved for a couple of years as the entire federal building they now occupy is refurbished. State agency personnel are constantly on the
hunt for projects and programs being created by these funds for the possibility that “cooperation” or “joint performance” opportunities may emerge.

2. “Oil Spill” money in almost unlimited amounts has been awarded to the US Fish and Wildlife Service to clean up the Gulf of Mexico and to save wildlife. Retirees are being recalled; overtime, training and per diem costs are enormous, permanent and temporary staff hiring is going on, and the resulting boon to US Fish and Wildlife Service budgets and staff will remain long after any real work like cleanup is needed. Bureaucratic
dreams of “research” and “protection” ad infinitum are translated into personnel and dollars that will be more easily obtained from Congress and the White House when there are elements of funding inserted for “state cooperation” and “University research”.

3. White House money for the First Lady’s “Childhood Obesity” push is flowing into the US Fish and Wildlife Service in large amounts and at a rapid pace. Program descriptions of how getting kids “outdoors” will slim
them down are being generated quicker than federal land acquisition justifications. Since this will go on “everywhere”, federal field stations will get first crack at funds and state agencies hope to get remaining funds to “do their part” where federal field stations do not exist.

4. Last, but not least, there is the once-a-decade and perennial program for US Fish and Wildlife Service to “educate” munchkins everywhere about “the environment”. Such programs for “the children” come and go
(but not completely) once or twice a decade as politicians need to project “concern” as voters think of voting. This latest White House Initiative is sending money directly to the US Fish and Wildlife Service Training Center in West Virginia. This Taj Mahal of Training (one gift of many from WV US Senator Byrd) is becoming increasingly independent (of USFWS) as its bureaucratic and budget power grows. The Center can more and more be relied on to direct some if “its” money to state “cooperators” as the Center builds “its” base of support for future funding, programs, and personnel with state agencies among others.

All 4 of these current “initiatives” have both real and potential funding availability for state fish and wildlife agencies. Additionally, many state politicians love such federal funds (education, roads, etc.) because they
get do some things without raising taxes. So state employees and many state politicians measure success by “getting every available federal nickel” rather than meeting state needs within state budgets. As long as it is not too noticeable, a little “go-along to get-along” is the price they pay: only the cumulative results get harder and harder to hide.

Is it any wonder that state fish and wildlife agencies look to Washington for their future? The Washington future asks only obedience, not accountability or taxpayers with unmet expectations. Think about what the
environmental classes, the “outdoor” training, and media releases will say about – hunting/ logging/ fishing/ trapping/ wolves/ grazing/ ranching/ public lands/ private property/ states rights/ rural conflicts/ federal
agencies/ state agencies/ the UN/ guns/ etc. Think about what will be said about “non-’native’” species like brown trout, pheasants, and Russian Olive trees. Think about the un-measurable nature of a job “saving the
ecosystem” as opposed a measurable job of providing a statewide elk kill of 15,000 or a 60 day pheasant season (with some left for next year). Think about all that scarce dollar largesse awash in government agencies as the economy tanks, the national debt soars, businesses are brought under union/government
ownership and control, and unemployment remains high everywhere.

Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking to disparage this alliance of state and federal angels doing the work of Druidic priests dancing around some oak tree full of mistletoe. We all owe you even more
than we can express and whatever you choose to do or don’t do is something the rest of us should simply be grateful for. How lucky we are to have state and federal agencies that know what’s best for us and how wonderful it is that it coincides so nicely with what is good for them.

Remember all this as we struggle with wolves, as hunting diminishes, as state employees fail to return calls for the removal of disease-carrying wolves from yards by homes where small children reside. Whether you live
in the Upper Midwest where MN, IA, and WI are protecting cougars in hopes that they will expand their numbers or whether you live in CA where protected cougars kill and maim joggers, bikers, and others or whether you raise dogs in any of the states now protecting wolves: you had better consider the role and activities of state fish and wildlife employees and make sure they are working for you and not federal overseers or radical organizations that consider you no different than a pig or a rat or whatever.

Follow the Money.

Jim Beers
8 June 2010

Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow. He was stationed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, and Washington DC. He also served as a US Navy Line Officer in the western Pacific and on Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. He has worked for the Utah Fish & Game, Minneapolis Police Department, and as a Security Supervisor in Washington, DC. He testified three times before Congress; twice regarding the theft by the US Fish & Wildlife Service of $45 to 60 Million from State fish and wildlife funds and once in opposition to expanding Federal Invasive Species authority. He resides in Eagan, Minnesota with his wife of many decades.

Jim Beers is available to speak or for consulting at jimbeers7@comcast.net

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The partnership will provide RMEF with premier visibility at GunBroker.com, which boasts some 3 million unique visitors per month. In addition, the RMEF logo will receive associate-sponsor, rear-tailgate and TV-panel placement on Jason White’s GunBroker.com No. 23 truck in two nationally televised NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races in Michigan on June 12, 2010, and Texas on Nov. 5, 2010.

White currently sits ninth in the NCWTS standings with two Top 10 finishes and was the pole winner at the season opener at Daytona.

“This is a valuable promotional package worth hundreds of thousands of dollars; certainly an opportunity that we could never consider if not for the generosity and conservation spirit of GunBroker.com,” said Steve Decker, vice president of marketing for RMEF. “We couldn’t be more excited about expanding our efforts to familiarize sportsmen and sports fans with our work to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat.”

RMEF recently passed two key milestones: 5.7 million acres of mostly public-land habitat enhanced or conserved, and 585,000 acres opened or secured for public hunting.

“Many of our 1.5 million registered users are hunters and shooters who passionately support conservation programs, so it’s important that we do our part to help RMEF continue its excellent work,” said Steve Urvan, CEO of GunBroker.com.

GunBroker.com ads and logo placement will appear within RMEF organizational publications and events through the partnership.

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