Max Baucus: “I say to all my friends, it is imperative we work together to find a compromise. As both Senators from Idaho know, you…”

“I say to all my friends, it is imperative we work together to find a compromise. As both Senators from Idaho know, you and other Senators have been working on a compromise. Under that compromise, Idaho could have a wolf hunt, as they should. The State of Montana could have a wolf hunt, as Montana should. Northern Utah could. All wolves in Utah would be off the endangered species list. I and others have suggested that wolves in northern Utah be totally off the endangered species list. This proposal we have been working on--you, myself, and others, including Secretary Salazar and the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Services, a short time ago, all agreed we should allow wolf hunts in all the States I mentioned. Yet I have to be honest, your side of the aisle has objected to that. You are not coming up with a total abolition, taking the wolf out of the Endangered Species Act. That is a solution that will not pass. We need a compromise. I end where I began. I strongly urge Senators, next year, to keep working on a compromise. This is not going to work when the House passes a bill that totally takes the wolf off the Endangered Species list, which I know is the game plan. If that happens, we are back into the soup again. Let's find a solution and compromise that achieves the results we all want. It is within our reach. It is right there. Because of this interchange, we will not get it done this year. Our States desperately need a solution.”