Sorry guys, I had to get some work done.
For those that asked about what role SFW & BGF played in the wolf war II, I will tell you what I believe happened.
These two groups began working on obtaining Congressional action that would remove protection of wolves throughout the entire U.S. This effort was started long before any other offer or suggestion was on the table.
This is only my opinion, but I was involved with this effort from the beginning, representing Wyoming.
I believe, when the effort first began, most of the established "sportsmen groups" in Washington, D.C. thought SFW & BGF were aiming for something that was beyond our reach. I know that some individuals actually said that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was a sacred cow in D.C. and that it could not be touched. Since neither SFW or BGF were established in D.C., I believe the established D.C. insiders thought we should take their advise and go home. When we did not pander to their request, some set back and watched us. When we started to build momentum, they started to get nervous. As things started to look more promising, they decided to jump into the fray but rather than support these two outside organizations which failed to do as instructed, the insiders came up with a quick solution that singled out 2 states for removal of ESA protections for wolves. SFW & BGF tried to get the inside organizations to throw their support behind our efforts and the refused. An internal document was leaked by one of the Washington, D.C. insiders and accusations started to fly about BGF as they were heading up the D.C. campaign. As soon as an easy fix was offered, some of the Congressional Cowards saw the cover they were eagerly provided and support for our effort to remove unnecessary protections from a species that never warranted protection quickly began to slip backwards. I even personally called and spoke with US Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) about his actions and the impact it was having on our attempt to delist wolves. He told me that Wyoming needed to be punished because of our failure to comply with federal demands. I explained that Wyoming had only fought to obtain a plan that should have been accepted from the onset and that it was our states right to manage anyway that we saw fit, so long as our management did not cause the recovery effort to fail. It was sickening to me, to see that one state felt compelled to assist the federal government in punishing another state to comply to an illegal order. When our efforts began to weaken and the 2 state rider looked like it would pass, I started to wonder about the impact it would cause Wyoming. For those that might not remember, Wyoming had just obtained a significant victory which validated our dual status management plan as being acceptable and that the USF&WS had acted with out cause when they rejected Wyoming's Wolf Management Plan. I will not deny that I worked tirelessly to ensure that our gains where not lost simply because of Washington, D.C. insiders felt threatened by an new and unknown organization. It was not until we were able to insert an amendment which ensured that Wyoming's gains would not be lost that I supported the 2 state solution.
Some will now get on here and say that our efforts had no chance of passage. All I can say is that something caused D.C. insiders to all of a sudden insert themselves into a debate that they had not been involved. It is easy to predict that it would have failed as it was undermined.
As those which will now excoriate me, just remember that I stated this was my opinion of what occurred. I did attend a meeting in Washington, D.C. where we in fact met with several key Congressional supports of our efforts. They also indicated that things were progressing well. Some of the D.C. insiders were also in attendance but they were not there to help our efforts as I later learned.
