Wolf advocates post how-to manual for saboteurs

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Environmentalists upset with a federal proposal to remove protections for wolves across most of the U.S. have posted a manual on how to disrupt wolf hunts and sabotage traps.

The 12-page manual published online Monday by Earth First! tells would-be saboteurs that Internet activism alone can leave activists with an empty feeling, so "why not try direct action?"

The manual instructs how to find traps and take them out by destroying or hiding them. It also instructs how to release a trapped wolf, noting that doing so is very dangerous, and suggests forming blockades where wolf permits are sold and walking ahead of hunters with air horns.

Earth First! Media spokesman Grayson Flory said his organization published the manual written by a group calling themselves the "Redneck Wolf Lovin' Brigade." The impetus was the Obama administration's plans to end Endangered Species Act protections for almost all wolves in the U.S.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said the state's wolf hunting policy was a public process that deserved respect.

"This shows you the extremes people are willing to go to in making their points," Aasheim said. "But if something comes to pass and people do break the law, they will be prosecuted."