Wolverine lawsuit is not really about the wolverine

I read Kianna Gardner’s article in the Dec. 15 issue of the Inter Lake and thought it might be misleading to those who don’t understand the politics of the situation. So, since I have been a biological consultant in Northwest Montana for almost 30 years, and have an understanding of these issues, I felt obligated to share my knowledge on the subject.

What you need to understand is that the lawsuit brought by Wild Swan, Swan View Coalition, WildEarth Guardians, Alliance for Wild Rockies and Footloose Montana, against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has very little to do with the long-term health of the wolverine population in the U.S. What the lawsuit is truly about is money, power and ultimately control.

The money side of it is that lawsuits like this one are how groups like these, and Western Environmental Law Center, fund themselves through the Equal Access to Justice Act. They file the lawsuit, and if there is even a shred of doubt in the FWS position, the judge rules in favor of the plaintiffs, and the American taxpayers are on the hook for the law center’s legal bills, as well as time billed by the other groups for conducting “support research” for the lawsuit. It’s a pretty sweet gig for groups like these.

However, the money is really only a side benefit of the lawsuit. What these groups are really after is Power and Control.

If the lawsuit is successful enough to bully the FWS into listing the wolverine under the Endangered Species Act, that is when these groups get the power and control they are truly seeking. Once the wolverine is listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA, these very same groups will use the listing as a tool to restrict forest access, and curtail forest management activities (see spotted owl, lynx and grizzly bear as previous examples). Now the money train really starts rolling as these groups will use the wolverine listing to sue the Forest Service and any other agency, every time they even consider harvesting timber, or allowing motorized recreation, within smelling distance of a wolverine.

Currently the number one target of groups like these is snowmobilers, and listing of the wolverine would provide the perfect tool for them eliminate backcountry snowmobiling, and any other recreational activity they don’t approve of. (If I had to guess mountain bikers would be next on the hit list).

FYI – The FWS has got it right in the fact that the wolverine population in the U.S. is currently healthy and likely growing, with documentation of wolverines heading south into Colorado, Nevada and California, from their core habitat in the Northern Rockies. The argument to list the wolverine is based on a theory that global climate change “could possibly” result in a loss of wolverine natal habitat.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s prudent to start listing species under the ESA because of a “could possibly” reliant on global climate change. Like I said, it’s not really about the wolverine.

Todd Butts lives in Trego.