N.Y. Times Editorial
These days, the gray wolf is in trouble in the Rocky Mountain West and in Washington, D.C. Several members of the House have introduced a bill that would permanently remove wolves from the protection of the Endangered Species Act. A more “moderate” proposal sponsored by two Montana Democrats, Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, would exempt only wolves in Montana and Idaho. Both bills could be pushed hard in the remaining days of Congress’s lame-duck session.
Either would set a terrible precedent, opening the door for special-interest groups to push other inconvenient species off the list. The bills would undercut one of the primary reasons for the act, which was to relieve Congress of the impossible task of legislating protections species by species and leave the final determination to scientists and wildlife management professionals.
Teklanika Nature Photography 