I borrowed the headline chosen by Reid Ribble for his editorial which appeared on the conservative-leaning Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinal.
I do so – I admit – somewhat facetiously. While I absolutely agree with what the headline says, I chose to parrot the headline ironically – because Mr. Ribble seems to have only one thing on his mind.
You see, Mr Ribble wants to sell H.R. 884. The actions of, in his words, an “activist” judge, ruined his day when the order to delist wolves in his state was reversed by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in December of 2014 and put an end to wolf hunting in Wisconsin.
Judge Howell described the decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as “arbitrary and capricious.”
Ribble carefully avoids addressing this, and certainly makes no argument (outside of ambiguous references to un-named experts) to support the validity of the USFWS decision.
I would wonder, perhaps, how a real expert such as Wisconsin’s own Adrian Wydevan – who retired in October – feels about this debate. Wydevan was the head wolf biologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
House Resolution 884 is, as Ribble does state more positively than I will, little more than an end around run to pull the teeth of Judge Howell’s ruling – and then apply the nasty little sting in the tail which is to block future judicial review. These bills that seek to cut out one branch of the US government feel cowardly, if not anti-American, but we shall put that aside for now.
Overall, this editorial is a shallow exercise which is easily identified for what it is, even when filled with positive-sounding, science-supporting fluff.
The fact is, and always will be, that science is the LAST thing they want anyone to look at.
This all said, I still do agree with the headline. But, Mr. Ribble, we will have to significantly differ on who the “experts” are that should be taking care of our wolf population, and educating the public on how to deal with the possible human-wolf conflicts which result from having this essential apex predator back on our landscape.
Want to read the editorial? Here you go: Let the experts make decisions regarding Wisconsin’s gray wolves
Bills introduced to overrule federal judges, remove legal protections for wolves in Wyoming
