URGENT ALERT-

by Faith Williams

ACT NOW: Tell Congress to Keep Gray Wolves Protected Under the ESA

April 17, 2025

This morning, the House Natural Resources Committee approved the “Pet and Livestock Protection Act,” a radical bill that would strip gray wolves of their Endangered Species Act protections and hand management over to state agencies—many of which have already shown they won’t hesitate to authorize brutal culls.

For more than half a century, wolves clawed their way back from the brink—hunted nearly to extinction in most of the lower 48, only to rebound in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes thanks to federal safeguards. Now, Rep. Tom Tiffany (R‑WI‑7)—buoyed by unified Republican control of Congress and the White House—has cleared the bill’s first hurdle and is barreling toward a full House vote.

What’s at Stake?

  • Unchecked slaughter: Trapping, snaring, and mass shootings under state‑sanctioned “management” plans.
  • Ecosystem collapse: Loss of apex predators destabilizes forests and waterways.
  • Cultural loss: Wolves are woven into our shared heritage. Delisting them betrays the values that made the ESA one of America’s greatest recovery successes.

How You Can Help

  1. Sign the Petition:
    Add your name to the Endangered Species Coalition’s urgent letter telling Congress to REJECT attacks on gray wolves → Sign Now
  2. Call Your Representative:
    Find your U.S. Representative here → Find Your Rep
    Then urge them to defend science over special interests.
  3. Share Far and Wide:
    Let every friend, neighbor, and follower know what’s happening—and why we can’t let this bill pass. Use the buttons below or share the link directly.
    Share

We won’t stand by while politicians and cattle lobbyists gamble with the future of our wild places. Take action today—before this rollback becomes law.

Endangered Species Act

Wolf Torture Incident Exposes Deep Flaws in Wyoming’s Wildlife Management

by Savannah

On February 29th Cody Roberts ran over a juvenile wolf with his snowmobile, captured the disabled wolf, taped her mouth shut and took her to the Green River Bar in Daniel, Wyoming, where he tortured the young animal for hours before killing it. The incident made international headlines, generating a massive protest. The idea of injuring and torturing an animal for hours is reprehensible. The pain and terror this young animal endured before its short life was ended by Cody Roberts is devastating.

To make matters worse, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) fined Cody Roberts $250 for possession of a live wolf – the smallest penalty allowed – which he paid with his credit card. Then, the department’s apparent attempt to cover up the crime highlights deep systemic problems in Wyoming’s wildlife management.

Roberts killed the wolf on Feb. 29. KHOL radio got and broke the story on April 5th. Not until April 10—after global outrage—did Governor Gordon issue a public statement: “Cruelty to any wildlife is absolutely unacceptable. This is not the way anyone should treat any animal.”

We are grateful Governor Gordon condemned Cody Roberts’ cruel and senseless murder of the young wolf, but it falls far short of taking steps to outlaw wildlife torture. Does he fear the industrial hunting complex that pushed to delist wolves with anti-wolf propaganda? We hope Governor Gordon isn’t prioritizing reelection over doing the right thing.

Heinous acts like those of Cody Roberts are a direct consequence of delisting wolves and turning “management” of wolves over to the states. 85% of Wyoming is designated as a ‘predator zone,’ allowing for the unrestricted killing of wolves and other predator-classified animals. This violates the terms of delisting wolves from the ESA. If anything proves they have not acted in good faith, it is their attempted cover-up of Cody Roberts’ brutal acts. In response to a public records request, WGFD finally released Cody Roberts’ name and videos of the injured, muzzled wolf cowering in the bar full of people who did nothing about it. WGFD Director Nesvik issued an excuse of “a heavy workload” for the delay of releasing information.

All conservation efforts are important. The effectiveness of national monuments to protect species like wolves remains uncertain, however. Hunting and trapping are permitted in most existing monuments. Perhaps that is because it is incredibly difficult to create a monument under the Antiquities Act and the only way to gain the necessary support has been to allow hunting, trapping and livestock grazing.

Ultimately, ensuring the protection of vulnerable species like wolves requires comprehensive conservation strategies, including stronger regulation, enforcement, and reconsideration of management responsibilities. Relisting wolves under the Endangered Species Act is necessary to address the shortcomings of state management and prevent further harm to these iconic animals.

That’s why Footloose Montana is joining other wildlife conservation organizations to sue the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to relist wolves. Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have shown they cannot be trusted when it comes to sustaining wolves and other rare and sensitive species.

Idaho Caught in it’s Own Traps

by Savannah

BOISE, Idaho— It was a big week for wildlife in Idaho!  In a victory for grizzlies, wolves and conservation groups a federal judge issued a ruling Tuesday, March 19, 2024 preventing Idaho from allowing wolf trapping and snaring in grizzly bear habitat on public and private land between March 1 and Nov. 30, the non-denning season for grizzlies.

In 2021, Idaho greatly expanded wolf killing. Wolf trapping and snaring, using meat and scent bait that attracts grizzlies, was legal year-round on private land, along with year-round hunting seasons. Idaho also has a state-funded bounty system that pays private contractors for every wolf killed. Idaho wants two-thirds of the state’s wolves killed, drastically reducing the population to 500 wolves in the state’s 82,623 square miles. The state legislature didn’t care what other species were caught in wolf traps—including endangered grizzly bears. But this blatant disregard for the law trapped Idaho.

“Today’s decision is a victory for grizzly bears and all species impacted by Idaho’s indiscriminate wolf trapping and snaring,” said Ben Scrimshaw, senior associate attorney with Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies Office. “Even the state of Idaho has acknowledged the risk trapping and snaring poses to ESA-protected grizzly bears but has allowed it to continue during non-denning periods anyway. We are thankful that the court acknowledged this extreme risk and stepped in to prevent more harm.”

Idaho wolf trapping and snaring has been stopped for nine months a year, March 1 through November 30, on public and private lands in Regions 1, 2, 6 and 7. Photo from Western Watersheds Project.

Earthjustice represented thirteen conservation organizations in the lawsuit: the Center for Biological Diversity, Footloose Montana, Friends of the Clearwater, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Global Indigenous Council, the Humane Society of the United States, International Wildlife Coexistence Network, Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment, Sierra Club, Trap Free Montana, Western Watersheds Project, Wilderness Watch, and Wolves of the Rockies in the lawsuit.

Federal judge Candy W. Dale’s decision doesn’t stop wolf trapping and snaring altogether, but it does give a big reprieve of nine months’ freedom from indiscriminate wolf traps and snares that cause so much suffering and death to all creatures.

“Upon review of the complete record before it, the court finds plaintiffs have met their burden of demonstrating that a reasonably certain risk exists that a taking of a grizzly bear will occur even when traps and snares are lawfully set pursuant to Idaho’s laws and rules,” Dale wrote. “First, the court does not find Idaho’s argument that the absence of past take of a grizzly bear by an Idaho recreational wolf trapper complying with all of Idaho’s laws and rules is dispositive on the record now before the court. A review of applicable legal authorities indicates the court should use a standard that ‘favors endangered species to better effectuate the purpose of the ESA.’”

Meanwhile, Idaho is suing the federal government for rejecting its petition to strip Endangered Species Act protection from grizzlies. Judge Dale’s decision exposes the glaring fact that Idaho, like Montana, cannot be trusted with management of grizzlies if and when they are delisted.

Now grizzly bears from Idaho have a chance to naturally venture into the Bitterroot Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has mandated that Montana allow grizzlies to get to the Bitterroots from the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem and the Northern Continental Divide. Restoring grizzlies in the Bitterroot ecosystem from separate recovery zones will ensure a healthy breeding population.

Federal Judge Dale’s decision allowing Idaho’s grizzlies to reach the Bitterroots naturally has just taken the first step to real grizzly bear recovery, and we are all very grateful.

Time to End a Twisted Tradition

by Savannah

By: Jim Robertson

Unless a severe blow to the head or some psychopathic disorder has rendered them incapable of feeling empathy for others, anyone who witnesses the harrowing ordeal suffered by an animal caught in a leg hold trap should be appalled and outraged that trapping is still legal in a society that considers itself civilized. The continuation of this horrid, outdated practice in a country governed by the people suggests that either most folks have brain damage, or they are simply unaware of the terrible anguish and desperation a trapped animal goes through.

They must never have heard the cries of shock and pain when an animal first feels the steel jaws of a trap lock down onto his leg. They must never have looked into the weary eyes of a helpless victim who has been caught in a trap for days and nights on end. They must never have come across a leg that an animal had chewed off in order to escape a deadly fate, nor stopped to think how tormented and hopeless one must be to decide to take that desperate action. And they must never have seen an animal struggling through her life on three legs.

I have had several heart-wrenching experiences with the gruesome evils of trapping. On a walk near our home in Eastern Washington, my dog, Tucker, stepped into a steel-jawed, leg-hold trap that clamped down onto his front paw, prying his toes apart. He cried out in terror and frantically tried to shake it off, biting at the trap, at his paw, and at me as I fought to open the jaws of the trap. It continued to cut deeper into his tender flesh and my efforts caused him even more pain, but after many tortuous minutes, I was finally able to loosen the cruel device enough for him to pull free.

Another dog I freed was caught in two leg-hold traps. One was latched onto her front leg, while the second gripped her hind leg, forcing her to remain standing for countless, interminably long hours. Judging by how fatigued and dehydrated she was, she had been trapped there for several days. The sinister traps caused so much damage that a vet had to amputate one of her injured legs.

With no other hope of escape and feeling vulnerable to anyone that comes along, many trapped animals resort to amputating their own leg. Trappers callously try to downplay this grim act of despair by giving it the innocuous knick-name, “wring off.” But if they do not bleed to death or die from infection, these animals spend the rest of their lives crippled and possibly unable to keep up with a demanding life in the wild.

Unlike the fictional character “Little Big Man,” who was distraught to the brink of suicide when he found that an animal had chewed off it’s leg to escape one of his traps, most trappers who find a “wring-off” are indifferent to the suffering they caused as they discard the chewed-off limb and mindlessly reset their trap.

While we were camped near Bowron Lakes Provincial Park in B.C., Canada early last April, my dog found just such a discarded limb–the front leg of a lynx. In the ultimate betrayal of trust, animals protected in parks are fair game for trapping on the lands immediately outside park boundaries. Trappers consider those lands adjoining parks to be the most “productive,” and will pay tens of thousands of dollars for trap-lines in these areas. I have seen three-legged coyotes near the North Cascades National Park, and within the Grand Tetons National Park. Though it is considered a crime to trap inside those parks, it is perfectly legal to set traps right outside the boundaries of these meager protected lands.

Sidestepping the indisputable cruelty issue, pro-trapping factions try to perpetuate the myth that trapping is “sustainable.” But time and again entire populations of “furbearers” are completely trapped out of an area. The winter after I found wolf tracks in Katmai National Monument on the Alaska Peninsula, all seven members of the pack of wolves who had found a niche in and around that park were killed by trappers. Though they are extinct or endangered in most of the U.S., 1,500 wolves are legally trapped in Alaska each year.

Leg-hold traps are now banned in 88 countries, and some enlightened states have passed voter-approved initiatives to outlaw trapping. But in many U.S. states, as in Canada, the twisted tradition is not only legal, it’s practically enshrined. Compassionate people everywhere must add their voice to the rising call to end this barbarity once and for all.

Discovering the Dangers of Trapping

by Savannah

By: Mike

I first discovered trapping while backpacking during February of 1973. Leaving the road end on the Salmon River in Idaho, I headed downstream along the trail with a Newfoundland dog named Sophie. There wasn’t any snow, so the going was easy and I soon came to Killum Point, about two miles downstream. Here the trail is blasted out of a cliff high above the water.

I was startled to see a skinned animal, which I later realized was a coyote, hanging by a wire on the cliff face. A moment later, Sophie stepped into a trap right on the trail and let out a yelp. Being a large dog, Sophie pulled hard and was able to extricate herself from the trap after a few moments of panic. Still wearing my pack, I went up to the trap and crouched down to examine it. I lost my balance and put my hand down to steady myself, placing it right in another leghold trap. I frantically pulled on the trap, never having seen one before, and was able to remove my hand, skinning my knuckles in the process. I was furious by that point, and further searching revealed a total of five leghold traps at that spot, all connected to one anchoring cable. I couldn’t believe someone would put all these traps right in the trail, which was narrow on the side of a rocky bluff.

I continued down the trail to Horse Creek Bar, my planned campsite. Once there, I gingerly checked around the river bar and found several more traps set right in and around the campsite. One had a skinned bobcat lying next to it, another a coyote. To protect Sophie, I snapped the three traps for the night. Needless to say, my trip was ruined due to the unpleasant experiences with traps and the anxiety that I would find more.

As winters passed, it seemed wherever I went, I discovered traps and snares. In the Bitterroot Valley, I ran into traps in Lost Horse Creek, Big Creek, Kootenai Creek, and Eight Mile Creek. Along the Lochsa over Lolo Pass I found traps at Russian Creek, Mocus Point pack bridge,and Glade Creek. Snowmobiling with my dad near Lolo Pass, marten traps were set along the roads we cruised. Elk Summit Road out of Powell Ranger Station, the Nez Perce Road into the upper Selway – there were traps seemingly everywhere.

Finally, late one winter day, I was coming back down the Kootenai Creek Trail west of Stevensville. I had several dogs with me, including Jack, a small black lab. As darkness approached, I was still about three miles up the creek. A couple of the dogs ran a little ahead of me and I was startled by a sudden “snarling” sound. My first impression was that it sounded like what I thought was a bobcat. I sprinted around the corner of the trail and saw Jack struggling in some sort of wire contraption. Jack was making a horrid gagging sound as he flopped around in the snow, defecating in his panic. This was my first encounter with a large conibear, but I saw the springs on each side of the trap. I was able to compress the two springs down, but I didn’t know at the time one could depress one spring, hook it on it’s retaining hook, and then the other. I never even saw the hooks in the dim light. When I compressed the springs, both my hands were in use, and I needed a third to pull the dog out. Jack was going limp and I remember looking up at the sky and praying for help. Coincidence maybe, but one of the retaining hooks caught by itself and I suddenly had the extra hand I needed, and Jack was free.

Luckily for Jack, the conibear closed along the sides of his neck, rather than his windpipe, or maybe he twisted in it. Anyway, while gasping, Jack simply shook his head and we continued back to the trailhead.

That incident gave me nightmares for some time, and even during the day, the experience kept coming back to me. I couldn’t help but relive it over and over. It got so I pretty much quit even hiking in the winter for years after. It angered me that trappers had locked me out of the woods for several months every winter. The fear of getting a dog caught and the possibility of encountering a trapped wild animal, alive, bothered me tremendously.

Late last winter, again on Idaho’s Salmon River, my wife and I saw where a coyote had been trapped on the river trail, chewing up all of the brush within reach in it’s desperation to escape. A few miles farther, we made the horrid discovery of a river otter’s front paw left in a trap. We tried to imagine the fear and pain the otter suffered in order to escape, probably to die of infection or starvation as a result of losing it’s foot.

This winter, I have been out hiking in areas that are heavily used by hikers, which I thought would be trap free. I was wrong. After several hikes, I bumped into traps again, ruining another experience. I have hated trapping for it’s cruelty and for how it has ruined my winters. All this by less than one-half of one percent of Montanans.

My wife and I have joined Footloose Montana, realizing that the only way to end this nightmare on our public lands is to make trapping illegal and end it, once and for all.

Mike

A Hiker’s Shocking Encounter with Traps Near Butte, Montana

by Savannah

I adopted a German Short Hair, “Grace” from the pound 6 years ago. This past Christmas, I adopted Grace a partner, “Dooley” who is a mixed up spaniel/English setter and some other stuff. What a great dog! It was Dooley’s first run off the leash since moving in with us. I have been going to this trail area south of Butte for years because it is such a “safe pretty place” to exercise the dogs and me. On this trip, there was not enough snow to ski so we took off hiking. On the hike back, we took my usual way of cutting through the trees back down to the creek. Half way down, I noticed a rabbit hanging from a wire between two trees. The dogs caught the scent quick and moved in. They know the command “stay” but the traps were set on each side about three feet from the rabbit. I couldn’t see the traps at the time because they were covered with dirt and branches. Grace triggered the first trap but it missed her. Dooley moved in a step and “snap”!! It caught her paw. I have never heard a sound come from a dog like this howling scream. It almost sounded human. I was panicked. Dooley wouldn’t let me near his paw. I took a couple hard bites to my hand and had to back off. Grace came over and seemed to calm Dooley enough for me to pry the trap open. Once released, he ran from us but finally agreed to get in the jeep. He wouldn’t let me get near his paw for a week. We have some serious trust issues now. His paw seems to be OK now.

I called the Game Warden and took him out to show him the traps. I had no idea trapping was legal in a recreational area. Someone had taken one of the traps and left a nasty note threatening the trapper. I rather enjoyed the note and agreed with it’s sentiment. The game warden advised me that it was illegal to touch the traps let alone….steal them. He explained to me that the traps were tagged and the guy was legal. He went on to explain that even if I come upon a trap with an animal suffering, I could not disturb the trap or release the animal. I asked him if I could shoot the poor suffering animal. He replied with a strong “No.” He went on to tell me that the trappers are supposed to check their traps every 48 hours. They have no way of verifying that these checks happen.

The game warden called me later that day and informed me that the trapper was a guy who currently works for game and fish. Can ya believe it?? I had this picture in my mind of toothless shot-gun carrying hillbilly!! But who do we have but a state game and fish employee paid by the taxpayers trapping where families hike and recreate year round. What a twisted world!!

The trail is located about 15 miles south of Butte. You take I-15 south to the Feeley exit. Take a right at the bridge and follow the dirt road west about a mile and a half. Turn right into the Rocky Ridge Trail parking area. At the beginning of the trail there is a small bridge over the stream. The traps were set to the west of the bridge and trail. The guy had at least 4 traps set a month ago. A Mercy trap, according to the warden, is designed to hold the leg, not necessarily break it.

Footloose Montana Supporter, December 2008

Senior Yellow Lab Trapped in Ninemile

by Savannah

By: Anonymous Footloose Montana Member

My senior yellow lab was caught in a foothold trap in October 2005. We were hiking in the Ninemile along an overgrown logging road. The road skirts a saddle ridge between the McCormick Creek and Kennedy Creek drainages, and is frequently used by horseback riders, hunters, and is a popular area for collecting firewood. The exact location would be Forest Service Road 4282, approximately one mile from its intersection with McCormick Creek Road.

My dog was about 10 yards ahead of me, snooping in the brush when I heard her howl. I was at her side in seconds. The trap was set about three feet off the road. This was my first encounter with traps, and I was absolutely shocked since I’d been hiking that area 3-4 times per week for the past four years. Despite being in a panic and not very mechanically inclined, I was able to release my dog. She was fine and other than a sore foot – she had no serious injuries.

Because the trapper had tagged his trap with ID, my husband and I contacted him. This was our introduction to Montana’s trapping regs…we’d never before realized how lax they are. The trapper is a local resident. He traps extensively in the Ninemile and prides himself in following the trapping regs faithfully. I believe he does, and he’s won the good graces of the feds by contacting them in the past when wolves have been caught in his traps. He’s active in the Montana Trappers Association as well, and can/does travel to Helena to testify when the regs are being challenged. He lives to trap, and really doesn’t care if his activities cause discord with his neighbors.

Over the years, I’ve heard a number of stories detailing episodes of local pets being caught in this guy’s traps. This includes dogs who were out jogging with owners, bird dogs, and dogs simply hiking with owners. This trapper uses both snares and foothold traps. The snares terrify me.

Because this trapper’s traps are everywhere, I now carry wire cutters when I’m out with my three dogs. I’ve also attached bells to the dogs’ collars so I know where they are at all times…since I realize I only have minutes if they encounter a snare. This guy’s trapping activities have effectively destroyed my sense of safety and enjoyment while hiking. Many times, I opt to simply stay on my own property rather than risk an encounter with traps. This trapper traps for everything – coyotes, bobcat, fox, etc. He claims to have permission to trap on lots of private property, too. He does set up traps all along McCormick Creek Road, and Forest Service Road 4282. He rarely sets traps more than 30 feet from the road – that would entail physical effort to check and maintain his trapline.

Logan’s Death

by Savannah

By: John Ruther

Hello, my name is John Ruther and I would like to deliver a message, using the experience of my dog companion Logans’ death in a snare trap.

The first hint of a snares’ work is your animal will be jumping, acting as if he is getting into mischief out in the woods. Then, as your attention wanders, the corner of your eye will catch the jumping turning bizarre, almost as if a buck deer, or bear, or mountain lion, or something, is throwing him backwards, violently, over and over. It will be quiet, all the while there will be only the struggle. As you walk cautiously towards that place there will be stillness. When you see your animal it will be alive, fighting with every ounce of life it has left to get air into its’ lungs. Its’ legs will be straight out, perpendicular from the body, the tail will be rigid, the eyes will be wide and bright and pleading, the mouth and tongue will be the wrong color, a precursor to death purple.You may think, as I did, that your animal friend has broken his neck. You might speak to your friend to try to comfort him in what suddenly seems to be his final moments, you will search his body for wounds, you will gently roll him to search his other side and to be prepared to give heart compressions. The realization of his life slipping away will compel you to say his name to him what seems to be a thousand times. In the end you will be staring into his eyes, they will be the eyes of your best friend, they will be shining and filled with terror, and then, as sure as we all will die, the brightness fades slowly, and that unique irreplaceable spirit is no longer there. And then, as you stroke your friends’ still warm body for the last time, you may find it, as I did, the hidden wire around his neck, the snare embedded in his neck and lying in the tall grass and tied to the bush. Then the absurd but necessary for your sanity attempts at mouth to mouth resuscitation and heart compressions, and finally the acknowledgement that it all is very wrong, but absolutely real. This must be trapping at its’ best, the physical killing of a dog and the spiritual killing of a man.