Pack of wolf bills move ahead
By ROBERT W. BLACK
Associated Press Writer
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday recommended a bill allowing the state to pursue a lawsuit against the federal government over reintroduction of wolves.
The committee voted 3-2 to send House Bill 300 to the Senate for further debate.
Since gray wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996, their numbers have grown to about 300 in western Wyoming, raising concern from ranchers and outfitters that attacks on livestock and other wildlife will increase.
HB300 would allow funds to be used from the state’s Federal Natural Resource Policy account to investigate whether the state could recover damages to state wildlife or its citizens resulting from federal wildlife management decisions.
Although the measure was amended by an earlier committee to remove references to wolves, their reintroduction is among the federal actions the state’s attorneys could investigate.
The bill funds three new positions in the attorney general’s office at a cost of $250,000 to help implement the act.
Sen. Rich Cathcart, D-Carpenter, suggested there are enough lawyers in the office, which he referred to as ‘the biggest law firm in the state.’
‘What are all the attorneys we have on the payroll doing?’ he said.
Attorney General Pat Crank conceded his office has a large number of attorneys but said there are few that deal with wildlife issues.
‘Right now I do not have the bodies in the Natural Resources Division to do the litigation,’ he said.
The committee voted to give the attorney general’s office flexibility to hire any mix of attorneys or environmental experts rather than stick with House language which mandates hiring two attorneys and one expert.
HB300 is one of three wolf management bills; the other two are in the final stages of passage.
‘The goal of the bills is to give us a mechanism to go fight the federal government and get compensation for the state of Wyoming,’ said Michael O’Donnell, counsel for Gov. Dave Freudenthal.
Senate File 97 would direct the attorney general to prepare a plan for potential litigation asserting the state’s authority to manage wildlife within its borders. The plan would be forwarded to the Joint Travel Committee by Sept. 1.
The measure was passed by the House 54-6 and returned to the Senate for a review of House changes.
House Bill 229 sets forth the state’s plan to manage wolves once they are removed from the federal Endangered Species List. The proposal includes allowing hunting outside the Yellowstone-Grand Teton area if there are at least 15 wolf packs in the state, seven outside the national parks area.
HB229 was approved 27-3 by the Senate and goes back to the House for a look at a minor Senate amendment.