New bill could see gray wolf delisted across Lower 48 🐺

I’m currently at the “it’s Thursday already?” phase of the workweek and am unsure as to whether or not that is a good thing as of yet. For those of you who have also made it through, a pat on the back is deserved.

With that in mind, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get this Thursday morning dispatch out the door.

Here's what's worth reading about today:

• Common sense comeback - New bill for wolf delisting makes sense 🐺

• Illegal exotics - Texas game wardens bust illegal poaching ring 🚔

• Emperor no more - Alaska kills this year’s emperor goose hunt 🪿

• Bringing a kayak to a shark fight - You might need a bigger boat 🦈

THIS MAKES SENSE
PET AND LIVESTOCK PROTECTION ACT COULD SEE GRAY WOLVES DELISTED ACROSS LOWER 48

A newly introduced bill by congressmen from both Wisconsin and Colorado is looking to remove federal protections for gray wolves across the contiguous United States. 

Brought forward by U.S. Representatives Lauren Boebert (Colo.-04) and Tom Tiffany (Wisc.-07), the legislation, introduced last Friday, was presented as the Pet and Livestock Protection Act. Aimed as a follow up to last May’s Trust the Science Act, the goal of the new bill is simple: to delist the long-since-recovered gray wolf from the Endangered Species List.

In a place where many believe the gray wolves have overstayed their welcome, the legislation hopes to force the hand of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to use sound judgment as it pertains to wolves. It also serves to put protections in place that would prevent any future emotionally-driven lawsuits that would ignore sound science and keep wolves perpetually under federal management and protection.

🚔 Texas Game Wardens put the hurt on outfitter and guides for illegal exotic hunts. An outfitter and two guides have been nabbed in south Texas after allegedly operating guided nilgai hunts on private property. Native to India and Pakistan, nilgai were brought to the Lone Star State back in the 20s and, according to some, yield some of the best game meat on the planet. Given the quality of their meat and their ability to be hunted stateside, these exotic hunts can come with big price tags than can, in some cases, be too good to pass up. 

According to wardens, the suspects used a combination of airboats and thermal optics to take clients on hunts for the exotic animals, operating a sophisticated scheme and profiting from illegal activity. The year-long investigation resulted in charges to the three individuals which included hunting exotic animals without landowner consent, theft of exotic livestock and engaging in organized criminal activity.

🪿 Alaska shuts down emperor goose hunt. After population levels dipped below required minimums as per the state’s Pacific Flyway Management Plan, Alaska has announced that there will be no emperor goose hunt for the 2025-26 season. A recent breeding survey pegged current populations at 18,788 birds, a far cry from the 23,000 bird minimum needed to allow for a restricted harvest of 500 geese.  The fact that emperor geese numbers plummeted by 23% in 2024, prompted Alaskan officials to do the right thing and shut down the season. 

As of right now, no one can say how long the hunting ban will last. Having come off a 30-year hunting hiatus in 2017, this will be the first interruption since then. Given that emperor geese do not mate until they are three years of age and have an incredibly low juvenile survival rate, officials are optimistic that populations will rebound, it’s just anyone’s guess as to how long that will take.

🦈 I’d need a hose for that kayak. Watch as these fellas have a little competition for their catch just as they were about to hoist it into the kayak.

🗻 Happiness in the High Pamirs: Ravmed is a village in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. About three hundred people live there: subsistence farmers and livestock herders whose way of life has not changed much in hundreds of years. The village is in a steep valley at 9,800 feet. You can see peaks more than 20,000 feet high from the village.

I tried to go to Ravmed last April, but the road from the Bartang Valley was blocked by a huge avalanche. I was hoping for better luck this time. On January 6, 2024, Mike Rossey and I met our guide, Latifa Gulomamadova, in Dushanbe, the capital city. It was Mike’s first trip to Tajikistan, and my sixth. Bureaucratic problems paused trophy hunting in Ravmed for two years.  This January, the conservancy reopened, with two permits for ibex issued by the government of Tajikistan. Read the full story.

⛵️ Sailboats and Small Game: Adventure Hunting in Norway: There is a splash in the water, followed by the rattling sound of fifty meters of chain rushing out. The echo sings into the autumn-colored mountain sides resplendent in red heather and yellow leaves. Then, there is silence in the deserted fjord. The only thing that can be heard is the sound of sacks and guns being loaded into the dinghy. Now it’s time for hunting. Read the full story.

🦆 The Legacy of The Ward Brothers:  During a time when handmade decoys worked, before they adorned the mantel above the fireplace and were held as the quintessential American folk art, the Ward Brothers of Lem and Steve, and their craft rose above their contemporaries.

Their hometown of Crisfield, Maryland lies at the marshy middle edge of the Eastern Shore. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, and carvers developed their own unique style of decoys for their area. The style made by Lem and Steve reflected the way they hunted in this middle part of the Bay, a flat-bottom decoy with realistic heads, compared to the round bottom decoys of the equally influential Madison Mitchell in the upper Bay.

The long history of brothers Lem and Steve Ward in the waterfowling world has been well documented, even by the National Geographic. The importance of their contributions to the culture of carving and woodworking, especially along their home waters of Maryland, is preserved by the Ward Foundation as well.  Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…