August 2006

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has released its evaluation of efforts in 2005 to implement the controversial agreement with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) to conduct 149 different management actions on Montana's National Bison Range Complex, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. Under the Indian Self-Determination Act Amendments of 1994, the Bison Range Annual Funding Agreement turned over from the Service to the CSKT approximately half of the budget and staff positions at this complex of national wildlife refuge lands.

Of the 149 management...

The long-standing feud between the state of Wyoming and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) over wolf management and the process to remove gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains from the endangered species list has taken another downturn, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

On July 24, the Service denied Wyoming's plan to manage wolves in the state, following a yearlong review of the plan. As a result of that decision, it appears that Wyoming will sue the Service, as evidence by the fact that the state had already filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue before...

On July 11, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed S. 2430, its reauthorization version of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2006. S. 2430 seeks to put more dollars into Great Lakes basin restoration and more priority on terrestrial wildlife than were part of the original Act of 1990 and its subsequent reauthorization in 1998. A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives, where it faces a stiffer test. If it passes there, it won't get the President's OK and signature unless the recommended funding-level dollars are available. However, bipartisan...