Dubya Administration seeks to end hunting in 11 Western States

[JoseCuervo]

More from the Anti-Hunters that reside in the WhiteHouse.

Conservation groups call for protection of grouse


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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is under fire from a collection of Western conservation groups over the agency's alleged failure to determine whether the sharp-tailed grouse should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Jon Marvel, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, a Hailey-based environmental group, said Fish and Wildlife has been issued a 60-day warning letter, which is basically a notice that the agency will be sued if it fails to meet certain criteria.

Western Watersheds, along with seven other conservation groups, submitted a petition to list the grouse over a year ago. Following a year of inaction from Fish and Wildlife, the groups issued the warning Nov. 22.

Marvel claims that Fish and Wildlife is required by law to conduct two separate reviews—90-day and 12-month findings—to accurately determine whether a species warrants federal protection.

"They didn't do either of those," Marvel said, adding that such actions have become all too common over the past six years.

"This is typical of the Bush administration," he said. "When it comes to administering the law, they ignore the law, which requires groups like ours to go to court to enforce it.

"The agency is instructed, we believe, to not respond to these issues until the court tells them to. That should be an embarrassment."

The number of listings under the Bush administration is at the lowest rate in the history of the Endangered Species Act, which was created in 1973. The current administration is averaging seven listings per year, compared to an average of 65 per year during the Clinton administration, according to a report from the Center for Biological Diversity.

The sharp-tailed grouse, also known as the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, after the Columbia River, once flourished in abundance across 11 Western states. Today, Marvel believes the bird occupies less than 10 percent of its historic habitat, with about 80-percent of the remaining population found in Idaho counties—mostly in the southern and southeastern parts of the state. The bird can also be found in isolated pockets in northern Washington, northeastern Nevada, northern Utah, south central Wyoming, northwestern Colorado, and central British Columbia.

Randy Smith, regional wildlife manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said historic numbers are down but the sharp-tailed grouse is thriving in isolated pockets. The populations are so healthy in Idaho that since 1991 Fish and Game has relocated over 1,000 sharp-tailed grouse to Oregon, Washington, Nevada and other parts of Idaho.

"They're doing pretty well," Smith said. "The state of Idaho has been pretty proactive in working with the other states to do whatever we can to keep them off the endangered species list."

The first petition to list the grouse as threatened or endangered under the ESA came in 1995. Fish and Wildlife denied the request and the bird has since become extinct in Montana.
Overhunting, grazing and development have all contributed to the sharp-tailed grouse's decline.

"Protection for the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse is urgently needed to avoid a downward spiral," Marvel said. "Inaction may cause this rare bird to join the many other species that have gone extinct due to delays in listing."

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, 42 species have gone extinct awaiting an ESA listing, including the Amak Island song sparrow, the Virgin Islands screech owl and the Texas Henslow sparrow.

 

[feclnogn]

The first petition to list the grouse as threatened or endangered under the ESA came in 1995. Fish and Wildlife denied the request and the bird has since become extinct in Montana.

Damn that Bush. We need to have him removed from office as he is in violation of the Constitution.

Amendment Amendment XXII fn14 [ Annotations ]
Section. 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Sec. 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

fn14 [ Annotations ]
Section. 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Sec. 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

Since Bush was in office in 1995 this means that he would be in his Fourth Term, clearly a violation of the Amendment XXII. Sneaky little guy isnt he. By the way I could not find any where in the article where it stated the Administration was going to end hunting in the Western US.

 

[Tuffbucker]

Yeah, I didnt see anything in that article where George W. or any of his "people" were quoted saying they were going to end hunting anywhere....

I think Jose should change his name to Chicken Little.....with all his "the sky is falling....and its Bush's fault..."-posts!

Are you sure you dont write for the liberal media, because with headlines like that, and the lack of substance in the article to support the claims made in the title, you could have a successful career writing for a major newspaper somewhere!

Im sorry, but I think there are enough grouse in enough places, that an immediate listing is not neccessary. Sure, they arent as plentiful as they used to be, and sure they aren't in found in all of the same habitat/places they used to be....but tell me, what species is! Sorry if I dont agree with you and place the blame of all the worlds problems on W.....I think he's doing the right thing by letting the states decide if there is a need to list them, not some Liberal bunch of Bunny Humpers!

SCOTT

 

[noharleyyet]

GuavaDistillate never lets fact stand in the way of bashing his pseudonemisis W.

 

[Michaelr]

quite a few of them around here, And they are really tasty!!!

 

[Ithaca 37]

How many Bush administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb?


Answer: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb. Its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?

 

[noharleyyet]

How many Dems does it take to accomplish the same task?

Answer: None, they claim the Bush admin. should have known to replace it and are demanding a full senate investigation.

 

[cjcj]

Jose and Howard Dean....two peas in a pod.. LMAO.

 

[BigHornRam]

CJ,

I kinda thought Buzz and Dean where brothers. Both are short, arrogant pricks, with a penchant for putting their foot in their mouth.