I’ve written before about the status of gray wolves in the U.S. Those are the ones the Bush administration kept trying to get removed from the endangered species list so they could be hunted.
Last summer the wolves were delisted and big public hunts had already been planned when a courageous judge in Montana stepped up and stopped it. He put a hold on the delisting and hunting plans until he could review the matter further.
The next thing I heard was that in the waning days of his presidency, while enacting some of his last minute “midnight regulations,” Bush once again authorized the delisting of the gray wolves. Sheesh, what did wolves ever do to George Bush?
I was so disappointed. The delisting would take effect 30 days after its publication in the National Register. Obama would not be able to stop it and by the time the issue made it through all the necessary regulatory machinations again, hundreds of wolves would have been killed just for being wolves.
As it turned out though, the slow-turning wheels of government don’t play favorites. Something delayed the scheduled December printing and as of Wednesday, January 21, the delisting regulation still hadn’t been published. Therefore … drum roll … the regulation fell under a memo issued the day before, January 20 (Inauguration Day), by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, directing that no more approved or proposed regulations be sent to the National Register until President Obama’s new agency heads have a chance to review them.
The wolves are still safe because our new administration was playing heads-up ball on Day One. Thank you, Mr. President.
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More about wolves on Pied Type:
- 11.1.09 Yellowstone’s Cottonwood pack is gone
- 4.14.09 Something to howl about
- 4.5.09 Attention, wolf lovers
- 3.18.09 Salazar removes protection for gray wolves
- 2.25.09 Yellowstone wolf tracked to Colorado
- 12.5.08 I feel so much safer now
- 11.11.08 Bush going after wolves … again
- 9.19.08 Reintroduced gray wolves keep protected status
- 7.21.08 Judge ensures a safer autumn for gray wolves
Of all the things he could have done at the last minute for the GOOD, he decides to do this, again? WTF is wrong with that man? Was he a sheep in a previous life that was attacked by a wolf? Jeez, yes, what does he have against the wolf? Weirdo!
[It did seem almost like a vendetta, didn’t it? I’ve assumed for a long time that he was trying to do it to pay off some political debts to ranchers and the NRA. It was in the same package that included allowing the carrying of loaded guns in national parks — another NRA-backed idea. Heh, heh, heh. Fail!]
I’ll tellya, I like Obama more and more with each passing day.
[Yeppers. This stuff could so easily have escaped his notice until after the regs got into print. For once in my life, I’m happy a print job was running behind schedule!]
I’m so happy to hear that the gray wolves are safe! I hope they stay that way. Why would Bush de-list them? It doesn’t make any sense.
My father LOVES gray wolves. My sister and I used to give him gray wolf gifts for his birthday and Christmas every year. He has so many gray wolf things now that we don’t do that quite as much. 🙂 He has an amazing Gray Wolf “rug” hanging on the wall in his office.
[He’s a rancher (the “all hat, no cattle” type); he’s a former NRA member; he owes people. I figure that explains it. Oh, and he probably believes wolves are “evil.”]