Speech delivered to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Senator Conrad Burns, R-Montana

Mr. Chairman, thank you for allowing me to testify this morning. This is a very important issue for Montana and I am pleased to be here.

I have two concerns about the Administration's plans to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone National Park. First is the effects this plan has on the livestock industry, and the other is the cost to the American taxpayer.

Agriculture is Montana's number one industry--it pulls the wagon in my state. And the livestock business is pretty important to Montana, including those in the southwest corner of the state. The wolf recovery plan threatens that industry. It's just that simple. This spring ranchers will be protecting their new commodities--calves. With the increasing number of wolves and other predators, this commodity--and yes, livestock is a commodity--is put even more at risk.

By their own estimates, the Fish and Wildlife Service says the reintroduction program would result in the loss of up to 50 cattle and 200 sheep per year. Although this is insignificant to the Fish and Wildlife Service, it is significant to livestock producers.

Some have said the wolf should be reintroduced because the new population will be an "experimental population." This supposedly would give ranchers and other landowners the ability to take appropriate actions in protecting their property. But some groups are now petitioning the courts to have this "experimental status" stripped from the population. Where is this whole process going to end?

The next concern I have is cost. Why are we spending millions of dollars on this project, when Yellowstone Park's infrastructure is falling down around our ears? There is millions of dollars of work which needs to be done within Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park. I am sure, Mr. Chairman, that the parks within your state and all the other states in this country, are also in need of repair. As a member of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, I have seen the list of projects for infrastructure improvements. These improvements must be made to allow folks to have safe and enjoyable visits to the units of our National Park System. These improvements are also needed to protect the environment of the parks, monuments and memorials.

The question is, where are our priorities? I think they should be maintaining the parks so future generations can experience them.

Mr. Chairman, this is a bad idea for Montana ranchers and taxpayers. Thank you for allowing me to testify this morning.