Ah, I once again get sucked into a controversial message board thread. I thought I was free, but I have to comment on this…
I live at the base of the Wind River Mountains, and I have heard wolves howling while bowhunting for elk. Beautiful, though rather “thought provoking” for a man solo in the woods, making elk sounds, with nothing but arrows and a knife…
First of all, I don’t know of anyone who is proposing killing wolves in Yellowstone. Wyoming’s plan (which the feds keep rejecting) is to protect wolves in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and contiguous wilderness areas. That is a LOT of country. Outside those areas, wolves are to be classed as a “predator,” which pretty much means they’re fair game. This would allow wolves room to live, but still allow ranchers to protect their livelihood and assure that hunters have something to hunt.
Susan, you’re beautiful, but I have to disagree with you on this one. First of all, lumping “every single rancher, farmer, hunter, right-wing true believer” together is unfair, and you know it. Maybe you were joking–I never can tell. But that said, most ranchers, farmers, and hunters are against wolves to varying degrees. You live in Salt Lake City, correct? Being a city person or a recreational wilderness user doesn’t disqualify anyone from the conversation. But most people who depend on the land for their livelihood don’t like wolves. That should tell you something. What it tells me is that wolves are not stuffed animals, nor are they some sort of symbolic flagship for the environmental movement. They are brutally efficient killers who like to eat beef and mutton.
If given the choice between a healthy elk and a cow or sheep, any normal predator is going to choose the latter–predators don’t like working any harder than they have to. But livestock is bread and butter to a rancher. Wolves also affect game populations, and elk and deer are bread and butter to outfitters, lodges, hotels, and anyone else who financially relies on hunting. These people feel about the same about wolves as you probably feel about the IRS or bank robbers or anyone else who takes money out of your pocket. A lot of them have a grudging respect for wolves, grizzlies, coyotes, and so on. But is it any wonder that they don’t think too highly of them?
I personally think wolves are beautiful. If I raised livestock, I’d still think they were beautiful. But I sure wouldn’t want them in my back yard, and I’d probably get pretty up in arms about someone who wanted to put themthere.
Is there room for wolves and people? I think so. But that doesn’t mean wolves should be allowed to roam wherever they want with impunity. There’s plenty of room in the Parks and wilderness areas for a sustainable population. But they really don’t belong on ranch land. They want to be there because that’s where the easy food is. That means some wolves are going to have to die. It’s hard enough to make a go of ranching these days as it is.
A much more important issue to me personally is grizzly delisting. They’re here, their numbers are growing, and after decades of complete protection, a lot of them have figured out that there’s no reason for them to fear humans. At least wolves generally leave people alone…
My humble opinion.
Tom