THE VINE MAY 13, 2008
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Like grizzlies, American gray wolves are caught in a sort of ping-pong match between environmentalists and local pro-hunting activists who claim they're a menace to livestock and humans. Wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s, and the reintroduction was so successful (meaning that a population that once numbered in the thousands is at about 1,500) that they've finally been taken off the endangered species list in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and parts of neighboring states. So it's time to start shooting at them again! Idaho has started handing out wolf-hunting permits for next fall.
Still, dissatisfied anti-wolf (or as they like to call themselves, pro-elk) agitators have already taken to the lists, as with this guy in Idaho, who's sending around a petition to put an initiative on the November ballot to eliminate all wolves from the state: "'We don't care if you nuke 'em or poison 'em,' said Gillet, 'as long as they're gone!'" Later he accuses one of his adversaries in Idaho Fish and Game of wanting "an alpha female wolf for a girlfriend" and reads an anti-wolf poem (text unfortunately not included).
The anti-wolf folks certainly have some serious issues: Wolves do kill livestock and wipe out ungulate populations, and there have been some isolated incidents of wolves attacking humans (especially habituated wolves -- don't feed them!). But wackos like this guy don't do much to help the debate; and, meanwhile, nervous environmentalists have filed a suit demanding that the wolves be put back on the endangered list. And so the back-and-forth continues....
--Britt Peterson
6 comments
Nice post, Britt. Wow, an alpha female wolf as a girlfriend. That is quite a concept. I recall my late uncle John (d. 1997) railing against the fools who wanted to reintroduce wolves into his home state of Montana. It actually has worked out fairly well, though wolves do attack livestock. I have heard of enviro groups compensating farmers for their livestock losses (a neat and just idea, I thought, when I came across this information). This E&E is just the best feature. Keep up the good work, everyone.
- liberal reformer
May 13, 2008 at 1:29pm
Have the ungulate populations in these states significantly diministed because of wolves? And are they actually in danger of being wiped out? If so, it seems to make sense to use limited permit hunting to maintain a balance between wolf and ungulate populations.
By the way, FANTASTIC word, "ungulate"! (It's new to me.)
- hemlock41
May 13, 2008 at 1:47pm
Make that "diminished," not "diministed."
- hemlock41
May 13, 2008 at 1:48pm
And people said we had no further need of our large nuclear arsenal after the fall of the Soviet Union.
- ratnerstar
May 13, 2008 at 1:54pm
YES! It's nice to see HCN get some primetime linking.
The wolf population has grown faster and healthier in the region around Yellowstone but the argument that the pro-Elk crowd make about decreased populations is specious at best. The impact of wolves on elk population has been linked to an increase in healthier elk populations but also because of wolf predation, riparian and plant species that were being over grazed by elk and mule deer are now recovering. Smaller subspecies are recovering as well. But Yellowstone and the Tetons have seen an increase of wild-life watchers going to these parks to see the wolves in action. These folks bring in more money per person than do the shrinking population of hunters to these regions.
The same arguments are being make by anti-wolf folks in southern Arizona and New Mexico as it relates to the Mexican red wolf. There are ways of discouraging wolf predation of cattle by non-kill means but it requires ranchers using public grazing allotments to be more vigilant in checking on cattle than simply driving by once a week. If you choose to live the back country and wilds of America then expect that, yes, wildlife will wander through your "created" paradise. A fence just lets your neighbors know which side is theirs, it means nothing to wildlife.
Alpha predators in the wild areas of America are not just essential to maintaining the balance of the the wildness and the ecosystem but it also reinforces that very wildness that Americans treasure on their public lands. Fear, prejudice and ignorance play as much into the willful desire to see alpha predators wiped out as the perceived notion that we are the kings of our domain.
I'd highly recommend David Quammen's 'Monster of God' for a look at the human psychology and relationship with predators. A fascinating read.
- singlespeed
May 13, 2008 at 3:11pm
Of course, if you read Gillet's full text, he gives a pretty convincing justification for his anti-wolf position - "First it was my straw house, then the stick one. Dammit, do you know how expensive bricks are these days? And we never saw my sister again after she went to take those goodies to Grandma's house back in '83. Oh, they tried to tell me she followed some guy out to L.A., but I tell you, man, I KNOW..."
- dhauck
May 14, 2008 at 12:46pm