Frustrating quandary, wish it could be resolved to favor hunting.

[Dand]

I wish this could get sorted out and the animals transplanted.  They would be a great resource. Since they are transplanted I'd like to see them exempt from the ESA or partially so.  And the Feds should not have their fingers in it at all.  A resource for ALL hunters.

Some Question Reintroduction of Endangered Species
Wood Bison Extinct For More Than 100 Years

http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-endangered-species-pt-3-20110512,0,3712530.story

By Jackie Bartz
Channel 2 News
5:46 p.m. AKDT, May 12, 2011

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
The Endangered Species Act is a program that aims to protect, but some say it can cause more harm than good. A small herd of Wood Bison are waiting to be reintroduced into the wild at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation. 

Wood Bison have been extinct in the United States for over 100 years, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is hoping to change that. But stakeholders worry that their reintroduction would give them full protection under the Endangered Species Act, and cause problems in Interior Alaska. 

"In essence you may have to designate critical habitat for those animals," said Doug Vincent-Lang, Endangered Species Coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 

The state fears they wouldn't be able to properly manage the herd once released, including restrictions on hunting because of federal regulations. 

"We've been working with the state on this issue for some years now and our aim is to work with the state and find a way to allow this reintroduction to go forward as quickly, and as smoothly as possible," said Bruce Woods, spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Critics of the Endangered Species Act say it doesn't have a very good track record of helping a species recover. Many point to the recent controversy in the Northern Rockies over grey wolves.

In the mid 1990s the federal government reintroduced wolves into Yellowstone National Park. By 2010, state departments estimated there were over 1,000 roaming the Northern Rockies. Montana, Idaho and Wyoming wanted to take management into their own hands, but U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that Wyoming didn't have proper management tools in place, and the wolves remained on the list.

In April 2011, Congress stepped in and in an unprecedented move delisted wolves using a rider on the budget bill. 

"In the U.S. this is the first time that we've ever seen Congress without worrying about the science just delist a species and take away the public's right to have any input on the listing of the species," said Rebecca Noblin, with the Center for Biological Diversity.

Some environmental groups worry this could set a bad precedent.

"The Endangered Species Act is supposed to be on science and in this case it was a political reason wolves were taken off and that defies everything that I think the law should stand for," said Carole Holley, Co-Program Director for Alaska with Pacific Environment.

Rep. Don Young has introduced legislation to delist Polar Bears. 

"I got the support to pass it out of the House but I doubt if we can get it out of the Senate because they are so locked into, ‘Oh, we are saving the world, they are not saving the world,’" Young said in a phone interview.

Once a species is on the list it's tough to get it off, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 

"We are setting these recovery objects to get back to recovery levels that aren't necessarily to prevent their extinction when they are no longer threatened with extinction," said Vincent-Lang. He said a perfect example is the Steller sea lion population in the Aleutians. 

"The recovery objective for Steller sea lions in the western Aleutians right now is sitting someplace in the order of 110,000 animals. Right now we have over 75,000 animals," Vincent-Lang said. But even with those numbers, the National Marine Fisheries Service shut down fisheries near Adak.

"The process that has brought them to the point where they need protection has been long, it's been a long process and it's taken a long time," said Woods. He says there are plenty of success stories in Alaska, including the Cackling Goose, Peregrine Falcon and Arctic Peregrine Falcon, which were all previously listed and have now been removed.

Copyright © 2011, KTUU-TV

[Sourdough]

Dand, I have been working on this project since the late 90s.  At first the USF&W service was against turning these animals loose where they might get onto federal lands.  Then they said they were keeping a hands off approach, anything we did was OK with them, they just did not want to be involved.  USF&W assured us they would give us the permits and that they would classify these animals as an experimental group and that the animals would not fall under their jurisdiction. 

Then suddenly as we were withing weeks of making the release, USF&W relisted Wood Bison as Endangered, giving them jurisdiction over any Wood Bison upon release into the wild.  They also changed the future uses of the herd and removed the word "Hunting".

Just another case of the USF&W service overstepping their bounds.   

[Dand]

What a bummer Rog that the Feds change their word - but I guess we shouldn't be surprised.  Before I move to the Bay area a caribou transplant was done.  It has been my understanding that  Dingell - Johnson money - largely generated from sport users paid for the effort.  Then when the herd was big enough for harvest, it was pretty much limited to subsistence hunts.  I have participated as I qualify by living close but IF I have my facts right, it still seems strange.  After a an initial surge in the caribou population, it has stablized at a level that doesn't allow much harvest and has been closed some years.  There has been a little poaching but not too bad. 

I sure wish the bison thing could get fixed and the transplant move forward.  If the herds get going it could be a great resource for all.  I'm sure enjoying the meat I got from my Delta hunt - milder than beef from Kodiak that I've eaten.  Wish we had some leverage to MAKE things happen.  I can see this thing just stalling. In the mean time the herd grows at Portage and something will have to be done with the animals.  Some of the bulls there look like locomotives.

[Sourdough]

And people think the Delta Bison are big.  These guys are much bigger.   I recommended they give some to UAF for research at the large animal station.  The project is on hold for the time being.

[streak]

Yep! When "Uncle Sam" starts monkeying around with things like this, I think we know the end results before they even get started! As mentioned earlier, look at the introduction of the grey wolves in Yellowstone. I mentioned this last year on another forum about a friend of mine who runs a big ranch out of Big Piney , Wyo. loosing over 200 head of cattle the previous year to wolves, who are protected. and a few to bears. Now a minium value of a $1000 dollar a head and loosing around 200 really starts to eat into your profit margin pretty quick!
I hope the state prevails and the bison are introduced and are successful!!

[Sourdough]

Was told today that US Fish and Wildlife Service is not budging one bit.  They refuse to add hunting as one of the future uses of Wood Bison.  So any releases are not going to happen this summer.  Rog

[Dand]

Bummer - well then I guess I support no transplanting. Man! I can't wait to see a new pres in this country.

[Sourdough]

Fairbanks Biologist Tom Seaton has taken over the management of the Bison Project.  The previous manager retired.  I really like Tom, I have worked with him closely for several years on Beaver Control in my area.

[Dand]

The problem is on-going but here is an update from the Fairbanks News Miner:



Release of bison into Alaska wilderness put on hold again

by Tim Mowry / tmowry@newsminer.com
Aug 14, 2011 | 3546 views | 14  | 4  |  |




FAIRBANKS — The re-introduction of wood bison in Alaska has been delayed for at least another year, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is paying for it.

The federal agency recently forked over $200,000 to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to maintain a captive herd of more than 100 wood bison for another year at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Girdwood south of Anchorage.

The hope is it will give federal and state agencies enough time to negotiate a special rule that will make the animals exempt from the Endangered Species Act when they are finally set loose in Alaska. The state has been holding the bison at the AWCC for more than three years as part of a plan to restore the shaggy beasts to the Alaska landscape. The Department of Fish and Game imported 53 bison from Elk Island National Park in Alberta, Canada, in June 2007 to complement a herd of 33 wood bison that were already being held at the AWCC.

The herd size has since grown to 103 with the addition of calves the past four years.

The Fish and Wildlife Service gave the state $200,000 to maintain the herd for another year “because we support the reintroduction and believe that it is clearly in line with our missions and mandates,” agency spokesman Bruce Woods wrote in an email. The money will cover food and veterinary costs for the herd for the next year.

Release stalled

The department’s original plan was to release at least 40 of the animals in one of three locations — the Yukon Flats, Minto Flats or the Innoko River Flats — in spring 2010. The most recent plan, after concerns were raised about releasing the animals in the Yukon Flats (national wildlife refuge) and Minto Flats (oil and gas development), was to release a small herd into the Innoko River Flats in western Alaska in spring 2011.

But that release has been stalled while the state waits for the Fish and Wildlife Service to approve a special rule, called a 10j rule, that would not prohibit resource development, i.e. oil and gas drilling, in areas where the bison may be released. The snag at this point is over a provision in the 10j rule that will allow future hunting of wood bison after they are released, assuming the population increases to allow for that.

“The main obstacle we are dealing with is a lack of inclusion of general hunting in the special rule,” Doug Vincent-Lang, a special assistant to ADF&G commissioner Cora Campbell and the state’s endangered species coordinator, wrote in an email.


Read more: [/color]Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Release of bison into Alaska wilderness put on hold again

[Sourdough]

Was talking to the SFW Attorney that got the wolf issue before Congress.  He came up and had lunch with us Wednesday.  One of the members of our group ask specifically about the Wood Bison Issue.  He said that the US Fish and Wildlife Service has too many rules that conflict with other rules.  There is no way they are going to be able is issue a permit to release the Bison on suitable terms for Alaska. 

The problem with going to Congress is our delegates.  Begich is weak and will toe the Democratic Party Line, Environmentalism.  Murkowski will not do anything to upset the Dems since she is really a Democrate that was elected by the Democratic Party.  She is a Republication in name only, (RINO), she votes along with Begich.  Don Young is strong but can not do it himself.

[Dand]

Darn! I wish I had read this a day earlier.  This morning I had a short visit with Bob King, Begich's fisheries and oceans etc man. I don't know if it would have gone anywhere but it would have been an opportunity to talk to a guy who is really close to Mark and who knows me from a long time back.