The template for public policy regarding wolf management in Montana
*Montana Senate passes House Joint Resolution 29 (HJ29), by a 46 to 4 majority - "Reservation of rights and remedies for wolf control"....submitted simultaneously in Idaho & Montana *
(About Bill -- Links
http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/2005/billhtml/HJ0029.htm#About
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 29
INTRODUCED BY D. RICE
A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA CLARIFYING TO
APPROPRIATE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS THAT *MONTANA RESERVES ITS APPLICABLE RIGHTS AND REMEDIES TO REQUEST FEDERAL PREDATOR CONTROL AND TO EXERCISE RIGHTS AND REMEDIES TO PREVENT AND CONTROL DAMAGE OR CONFLICT ON FEDERAL, STATE, OR OTHER PUBLIC OR PRIVATE LAND CAUSED BY PREDATORY ANIMALS*, AND URGING THE
MONTANA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO *TAKE APPROPRIATE MEASURES
TO OBTAIN MEANINGFUL FUNDING AND ASSISTANCE FOR MONTANA CITIZENS
AND COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY FEDERAL
WOLF REINTRODUCTION.*
WHEREAS, Article II, section 3, of the Montana Constitution provides all persons with the inalienable right to enjoy and defend their lives and liberties, to acquire, possess, and protect property, and to seek their safety, health, and happiness in all lawful ways; and
WHEREAS, the 2001 Montana Legislature enacted section 87-5-131, MCA, to provide for state delisting of the gray wolf upon federal delisting and to provide a plan to manage the wolf as a species in need of management until the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and the Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission determine that the wolf no longer needs protection as a species in need of management and can be managed and protected as a game animal; and
WHEREAS, *the 2003 Montana Legislature enacted section 87-1-217, MCA, requiring the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to manage large predators, including wolves, with the primary goals to preserve citizens' opportunities to hunt large game species, to protect humans, livestock, and pets, and to preserve and enhance the safety of the public during outdoor recreational and livelihood activities*; and
WHEREAS, the 2003 Montana Legislature adopted Senate Joint Resolution No. 4, requesting delisting of the wolf pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, requesting that Congress establish and fund the Northern Rocky Mountain Grizzly Bear and Gray Wolf National Management Trust, requesting that *wolf population management methods include nonlethal and lethal methods*, encouraging the Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission to reclassify the gray wolf when regulation of the wolf population is needed, and requesting *the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks or the Department of Livestock to address livestock depredations expeditiously*; and
WHEREAS, the 2003 Montana Legislature passed House Bill No. 283 (chapter 530, Laws of 2003), directing the Attorney General to prepare a proactive opinion of state options regarding delisting and possible litigation scenarios related to recovery of damages and costs associated with wolf reintroduction in Montana; and
WHEREAS, *uncontrolled wolf populations and extraordinarily high wolf /_densities _/continue to cause damage to Montana's economy, customs, culture, public safety, and public health despite the state's ongoing efforts to conform to federal requirements regarding wolf management plans and the state's regular requests for wolf delisting and despite the declared/_ intent_/ of Congress in 1988 /_"not to hurt hunting, not to hurt the local economies";_/* and
WHEREAS, *wolves are /_predators _/and should be managed as /_predators_/*; and
WHEREAS, *high wolf population densities resulting from
reintroduction are /_proof_/ of the *failure *of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to /_abide by the law and its own regulations_/*; and
WHEREAS, *the U.S. Congress has yet to address its restitution responsibilities under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution for damage to private property, livestock, domestic animals, and Montana wildlife that has resulted from the/_unnatural_/ and /_accelerated_/ reintroduction of wolves*; and
WHEREAS, *designation of the wolf as a game animal under the Montana management plan will not supersede or undermine current federal or state law allowing management of wolves for depredation and Montana would be better served by a state management plan that allows the controlled taking of wolves* following delisting; and
WHEREAS, *recent adoption of the final 10(j) Rule under the Endangered Species Act allowed Montana landowners to take additional steps to protect livestock and dogs from attacks by wolves on private land and allowed grazing permittees and guiding and outfitting permittees to take wolves attacking livestock or domestic animals herding and guarding livestock on public lands*; and
WHEREAS, *a recent U.S. District Court decision in Oregon held that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by changing the status of the gray wolf from "endangered" to "threatened" in some regions, relaxing protection on many of the nation's gray wolves and effectively disallowing the shooting of wolves that are not part of the reintroduced experimental populations but that are attacking livestock*; and
WHEREAS, *the court decision irreparably harmed the good faith efforts between state and federal agencies to move expeditiously toward delisting the gray wolf and raised the prospect of endless third-party lawsuits that will obstruct and delay the delisting process*; and
WHEREAS,/_ *federal, state, and local governments have a constitutional duty and fiduciary responsibility to provide all available remedies to protect the economy, customs, culture, public safety, and public health of the citizenry.*
_/
*NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:*
*_That the State of Montana reserves its rights and remedies available by order of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to provide funding under the federal Granger-Thye Act for predator control pursuant to Title 7 of the U.S. Code and recognizes that an injunction sought in a court of law cannot divest the State of Montana of those rights and remedies._*
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that *the State of Montana reserves its rights and remedies available through the U.S. Secretary of the Interior pursuant to Section 11(h) of the Endangered Species Act to order predator control in defense of game herds and recognizes that _an injunction sought in a court of law cannot divest the State of Montana of those rights and remedies_.*
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, *_that the State of Montana reserves its rights and remedies to prevent and control damages or conflicts on federal, state, or other public or private lands caused by predatory animals, rodents, and birds that are injurious to livestock, agriculture, horticulture, forestry, wildlife, and human safety and health, including threatened or endangered wildlife within Montana, as established by federal or state law or regulation or by county resolution._*
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that *the Montana Congressional Delegation* is urged to recognize the statutory concessions made by the State of Montana and *is urged to obtain meaningful and substantive funding for the impacts from the federal wolf reintroduction program that was forcibly established in Montana, including emergency federal assistance for those Montana communities that bear the disproportionate burden of the impacts
from the federal wolf reintroduction program.*
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Montana Congressional Delegation is urged to *review documents published from 1988 through November 22, 1994, that preceded accelerated wolf reintroduction* in order to verify that the *federal government never intended for high wolf population densities to result in damage to Montana citizens or to strip citizens of their legal rights.
*BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that *the Montana Congressional Delegation is urged to respond to this unintended collateral damage to Montana citizens by seeking restitution under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution for Montana citizens who have been damaged by the introduction of wolves into Montana.*
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State send copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, members of the Montana Congressional Delegation, and all other members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
- END -
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Latest Version of HJ 29 (HJ0029.01) Processed for the Web on February 15, 2005 (4:47pm)
New language in a bill appears underlined, deleted material appears stricken.
Sponsor names are handwritten on introduced bills, hence do not appear on the bill until it is reprinted.
See the status of this bill for the bill's primary sponsor.
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