breaking news (taxes, live in, law)

[MTSilvertip]

This is interesting, new as of 2:24 Nov 18.

Federal judge rules for Wyoming in wolf lawsuit

Apparently, Wyoming federal judges are smarter that some of the ones in Montana

[Mt-7]

Maybe a trend starting?

[ElkHunter]

That's just one rung of the ladder, we still can't shoot them as they are still on the "Federal" list. But it is a step in the right direction.

[Rickers]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

we still can't shoot them as they are still on the "Federal" list.

Yes we can shoot them and many are doing it as we speak I hope.
The repercussions if one is caught may hurt though.
People are smoking MM all over Montana and not being arrested by the feds for breaking federal laws. (There are a very few minor exceptions due to extenuating circumstances)
At this point I view the feds as wolves.
Any wolf that threatens my safety or well being is getting a hunk of lead in the head.
Most of our friends and neighbors are either ranchers, hunters or federal rangers, agents or other type of LEOs so we seem to be a bit caught in the middle here.
Anyone know of any good roast wolf recipes ?
Someone must be taking care of business in these parts because I don't seem to see as many wolves as I did a few years back and our area is packed with docile Whitetail Deer.

[ElkHunter]

Sure, people are killing wolves. For that matter, people are killing people. People are robbing banks. So let me rephrase it:

The state of Wyoming sued Fish and Wildlife after the federal agency refused to accept the state's plan, which would allow unregulated killing of the animals over all but the northwest part of the state. Currently, all of Wyoming's wolves are listed as a federally endangered species, meaning it's unlawful to kill wolves anywhere in the state.


And yes, I will take out a wolf if it threatens me or another human being. Course, I would take out a human for the same reasons.

[Rickers]

I just think the states and the people who live in these states that have wolves have a lot more sense than the stinking bureaucrats and the freaking Peta knuckleheads.
I also think all the states should be standing up to the feds and put them back where they belong, in a very tiny box where they can't mess with states rights.
Going to a federal court to fight the feds is not on many Montanans agenda.
Telling the feds to go to hell seems to be though.
We seem to love taking federal handouts but we don't want any strings attached for some reason. Montana is a great state but odd in some ways also, we seem to cut off out nose to spite our face once in a while.

I feel mostly for the ranchers who are really going to hurt from this wolf protection. They are the ones who are feeding the many folks who can't go out and hunt their own meat. I have little doubt that this wolf protection will cause my T-bone steak dinner to be a bit more unaffordable than it already is.
I would really like to see Montana hold a wolf hunting season and have a stand off the the feds just to see who blinks first and if they want to cut off funds in retaliation then let the wolf fur fly.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by rickers

I would really like to see Montana hold a wolf hunting season and have a stand off the the feds just to see who blinks first and if they want to cut off funds in retaliation then let the wolf fur fly.

That's fair enough, just so long as we cut off taxes paid to D.C. as well.
What's the IRS gonna do, arrest the whole state for not paying taxes?

BTW the thread title gave me a notion... I think it would be nice to have a thread that is just for breaking news in MT, that some people (especially us expats) might not hear about otherwise.

[Timberwolf232]

The way I look at it is what I consider a common sense approach. If a coyote or a badger is eating my chickens or acting as a threat to my steer... I deal with it. If a domestic dog does the same and I can't get it under control to return to the owner, I deal with it. (with domestic dogs I've never had to actually shoot, although years ago I did find one in a badger trap) I haven't seen a wolf do these things yet where I live but if a wolf does the same, I'll deal with it the same way as we always try to do... with common sense.

[MTSilvertip]

Two years ago, Ranchers could shoot wolves in the act of attacking livestock.
That summer I saw a wolf near some of our horses.
The temptation was great, but the wolf passed by without looking at the horses, so I withheld my fire.

After this summers rulling by maloy, I regret my decision, and may not excercise the same restraint in the future.

If the population tries to play by the rules, but the rules don't apply to the government, then there is no equal protection under the law, and in my mind that nulifies the law if the enforcers are not held to the same standard the general population is.

If there is not a clear, concise, one size fits all law in place to regulate wolves in a manner that protects livestock, wildlife and the human population, people WILL take the law into their own hands.
I would never advocate someone break the law intentionally, but the current garbage we are saddled with is a sore temptation as there is a lot of land out there, a lot of people who are very adapt with their weapons and familier with the wild places, and as respect for the lawmakers diminishes with every livestock killing, with every herd of elk with no surviving calves, with every incident where a wolf threatens a human with no redress of greivance from the government and no action except to complicate the matter, there will be those who will take the the chance to remedy the situation.

Next subject,
If we didn't have the federal tax burden, and the taxes now paid to Washington instead stayed in Montana, we would notice a slight tighening of the belt, but the freedom from federal mandates would compesate as we can take care of ourselves.
If Montana didn't have to send money to Washington, Imagine the businesses we could bring into the state, and if the federal judiciary was minimised, the eco-wackos would lose power. We could handle wolves and environmental policy on our own.
Imagine how nice it would be to have a judiciary that is answerable to the citizens of Montana, not to Washington.

Utopian dream where we could manage the wolves put here by federal decision ourselves, develop our resources, create jobs, improve our economy without having to ask some career beaurocrates permission, handle our own affairs to benefit Montana not some eco-wacko group, what a lovely dream.....

OK, Off the soapbox now.

[Reziac]

Here's an interesting article:
FWP warns MSU over scientist

Seems this Creel fellow is taking heat because he was smart enough to re-evaluate his position in the face of new data (isn't that what scientists are supposed to do??) and reached new conclusions, which were less favourable to what one commenter called the "wolf cult" (search for that term in the comments, seems we've got a genuine Follow-the-Money at the root of this controversy).

And Silvertip -- you said it best. That's a fine lookin' soapbox, it should be used more often.