Governor Gordon, mountain goats and a Wyoming roar

Photo by Dominique Scripter on Unsplash

Rarely has a Wyoming governor so publicly rebuked the federal government. But the terse and fiery letter that Governor Gordon sent to Gopaul Noojidail, acting superintendent, Grand Teton National Park, proved that our governor can roar.

Gopaul Noojidail

“Let me begin,” wrote Gordon, “by expressing my profound disappointment that the National Park Service chose to act unilaterally aerially executing mountain goats over the State of Wyoming’s objections. I will remember your blatant disregard for the advice of Wyoming’s Game and Fish Department.”

For months Wyoming’s Game and Fish Department (WGFD) has been negotiating with Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) over a herd of mountain goats that share an ecosystem with Teton’s bighorn sheep. The Park manages that land, while Game and Fish manages the animals.

Governor Mark Gordon

Last fall it was estimated that there were between 100-150 mountain goats in the park. This herd is descended from a population outside the park boundaries. For this reason, park officials want to treat them as an “invasive species.” But since the goats migrated on their own and were not transplanted by human agents, this designation is already questionable.

Still, that is not the center of the current dispute. Rather, even if eradicating mountain goats from the park is necessary, the question is: how? Those in charge of animal management, WGFD, want the park to handle the mountain goat problem in the same way that they handle elk overpopulation.

For a very specific time and very limited conditions, GTNP simply suspends the ban on elk hunting within the park boundaries. This, in fact, they already did last fall. Forty-eight people obtained special permits to hunt goats within Park boundaries. While it was estimated that only 15 goats would be harvested, that number was surpassed halfway through the season.

Wyoming Game and Fish Commission

Current estimates of the goat population are down to about 100. Despite the success of last fall’s hunt, GTNP ignored a January 15, 2020 letter from Wyoming’s Game and Fish Commission that was sent with the unanimous authority of the Commission. “The use of aerial gunning by GTNP personnel to remove these goats is inconsistent with all notions of game management, fair chase, and totally inconsistent with years of GTNP management of big game animals in GTNP.” Further, the letter warned, “Having government personnel kill mountain goats from helicopters and leaving them to rot and be wasted is unacceptable.”

On February 21, 2020 they commenced firing. In a single day of slaughter, 36 dead goats were left to rot.

“I am simply at a loss for why the Park Service would ignore an opportunity to work towards a solution upon which we could both agree and can only take it as an expression of your regard for neighbors and of the respect you apparently do not have for Wyoming or our professionals,” wrote the governor. This is yet another aspect, he said, “of this farce that I will long remember. Please rest assured that I will make your park’s attitude and willingness to find solutions is well communicated to our delegation, the Secretary of Interior, and others.”

Gordon made good on his words. Hours after release of the letter, secretary of the interior, David Bernhardt, ordered park officials to cease firing. Denise Germann, spokeswomen for GTNP blandly said, “We are taking a pause in operations and will continue our conversations with our partners in the state.”

Hopefully, the cease-fire will stay in place until qualified sportsmen are permitted to hold a fair hunt that is respectful of the majesty of these animals. Citizen hunters who leave big game to rot in the field can incur hefty fines. Some have suggested that the State of Wyoming fine GTNP $15,000 for each wasted carcass. That would add over half a million dollars to the budget.

Beyond the wasting of state resources and the disrespect for animal life, there is something still greater at stake. Governor Gordon pointed this out in the closing paragraph of his letter. “I have long appreciated Grand Teton National Park for the treasure it is to all our citizens. Now I hope I will not have to remember it as an example of federal disregard for the sovereignty of the states.”

The sovereignty of each individual state is one of three pillars of the United States Constitution. When most people think of the Constitution, they think of the Bill of Rights. That does not do justice to the real heart of freedom.

In fact, the framers of the Constitution hoped to design a federal government that would protect the natural rights of all people without the need to enumerate them in special amendments. The three pillars of freedom are: Federalism, Enumerated Powers, and the Separation of Powers.

The Separation of Powers refers to the division of labor among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government. The one who writes the laws cannot be either the enforcer or the judge. By giving some power to the President, some to Congress and some to the Court, the Constitution means to prevent anyone from being judge, prosecuting attorney and executioner.

The Enumeration of Powers means that the federal government is given very specific powers as defined in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. The Tenth Amendment of the Bill of Rights spells out: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Finally, Federalism is the principle of representative government. In order to avoid the mob-rule of raw democracy, our Constitution deliberately split power into smaller and smaller groups. Each state, as a whole, contributes a proportional voice to the decisions of the federal government. Each county, as a whole, contributes a voice to state government.

Federalism is the reason for the electoral college and the U.S. Senate. While mass media and mass hysteria can sway 50.001% of the national population to support some bad policy, it is far more difficult to get the same 50.001% of agreement across thousands of discrete communities. That further protects minorities from the tyranny of a majority.

The principle that Governor Gordon set out to defend is the principle of enumerated powers. As this column pointed out several weeks ago, WGFD is not a federal department, but a state agency. It has jurisdiction over all game and fish in the state whether they swim in privately-owned lakes or wander on nationally owned parks and forests.

Because animals move across boundaries, they cannot be owned or controlled solely by the landowner. Such is the case with the Teton mountain goats and big-horn sheep. They are not the sole possession of the federal government just because they happen to live on federal land.

By strongly opposing the federal slaughter of mountain goats, Governor Gordon was, in fact, standing for the constitutional freedoms of every citizen.

Ultimately, it’s not about 100 goats. It’s about the constitutional government of 331 million free citizens. Last week, through our governor, 1/600th of the American population stood up and roared. Every American should be proud because Governor Gordon was speaking for them all.