Walden Responds & Wolf Petition

Oregon Congressman Greg Walden represents Harney County in Oregon where that group of armed protestors have overtaken a federal facility in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. He spoke on the floor of the House with a great deal of passion over the issue.

WALDEN: Do you understand how frustrated I am at this? Can you imagine how the people on the ground feel? Can you imagine? If you are not there, you can't. If you are not there, you can't. You ridicule them. The Portland Oregonian is running a thing, what do you send? Meals for militia. Let's have fun with this. This is not a laughing matter from any consequence. Nobody is going to win out of this thing. This is a government that has gone too far for too long. Now, I am not condoning this takeover in any way. I want to make that clear. I don't think it is appropriate. There is a right to protest. I think they have gone too far. But I understand and hear their anger.

Wolves are once again getting some attention in Idaho as conservation groups have filed a petition asking for an additional five years of monitoring from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The monitoring is scheduled to end in May and the groups want the feds to continue keeping a close eye on gray wolf populations. According to the Center for Biological Diversity the monitoring is crucial to ensure that the wolf population doesn't slip to levels at which Endangered Species Act protections are again needed.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.