This guy hits it on the head and at the end of his article puts it into perspective of a real agenda a number of people want to bury their heads in the sand to
In the West, a Fierce Battle Over Wolves
By KIRK JOHNSON
DENVER — Gray wolves have entered the spin cycle.
Since March 28, when the wolf was taken off the list of federally protected species in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, a fierce battle of perceptions and posturing has unfolded on the Web and in the news media as pro-wolf and anti-wolf forces stake out sometimes hyperbolic positions concerning where in the West animals and humans should exist.
The backdrop is a running time clock and a lawsuit. On April 28, a coalition of environmental groups has said it will to go federal court challenging the decision to lift protections.
Until then, the court of public opinion is in session, as cases are built for how the new system of state management is working or not.
One wolf lover in California, in a forum posting on the Web site Yellowstone.net, proposed that tourists boycott Wyoming to protest the policies in a state where at least 10 wolves were shot in the first week after the rule change, according to state figures. Some Wyoming residents responded that such an action would be just fine by them, especially if more Californians stayed home.
Some ranchers and hunters urge caution in killing wolves unnecessarily, to avoid inflaming emotions (we sure wouldn't wan't to hurt their poor feelings) that could haunt the legal process later on.
“I would certainly not want to create any useful ammunition, no pun intended, for the pro-wolf environmental groups that have announced their intention to sue,” said Budd Betts, a dude-ranch operator and former Wyoming state legislator near Jackson Hole. “The legal aspect is connected to the emotional and the political, and no judge is immune.”
Pro-wolf forces, meanwhile, say that wolf killers may have created a martyr. On the first day protections were lifted, a partly crippled and much photographed radio-collared wolf named 253M was legally shot near the town of Daniel in western Wyoming.
The killing made headlines as far away as Utah, where 253M had wandered in 2002, before being transported back to Wyoming. A story in The Salt Lake Tribune quoted a woman as saying she had wept at the news of the animal’s death. (Boo F'n Hoo)
Responding to what it says are numerous public inquiries, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department began a weekly wolf update on its Web site, starting on April 4.
“We’re hearing a lot, from all sectors of the public,” said a spokesman, Eric Keszler. “Some want no wolves to be killed — others ask where the trophy game area is going to be.”
Wyoming, Montana and Idaho plan their first wolf trophy hunting seasons this fall. About 1,500 wolves inhabit the three states, most of them descended from 66 wolves introduced into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in the mid-1990s.
State management plans allow for wolf hunting — or in some places, outright eradication — with a target population of 150 in each of the three states. (Now this is an open tag type operation
)
Doug Honnold, the lead lawyer for the environmental coalition planning the lawsuit, said these initial weeks of state management were helping build his case that tougher restrictions on wolf hunting are needed.
“We often segregate the court of law and public opinion, but it’s important to prevail in both,” said Mr. Honnold, who works in the Bozeman, Mont., office of Earthjustice, a conservation group with headquarters in Oakland, Calif. “This wolf mortality that we’re seeing now shows the need for a safety net.”
But John Bair, the chairman of a multistate hunters group, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, which strongly supported taking wolves off the endangered species list, accused opponents of delisting with posturing and harboring hidden agendas. Ranchers and ordinary residents who have killed wolves legally in recent days, he said, are just following the law.
“My opinion is that they don’t really care about the number of wolves — they care about the political advantage,” said Mr. Bair, referring to the environmental groups. “The wolf is their silver bullet to do away with ranching and sport-hunting, which they oppose. That’s what this is about.”
In the West, a Fierce Battle Over Wolves
By KIRK JOHNSON
DENVER — Gray wolves have entered the spin cycle.
Since March 28, when the wolf was taken off the list of federally protected species in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, a fierce battle of perceptions and posturing has unfolded on the Web and in the news media as pro-wolf and anti-wolf forces stake out sometimes hyperbolic positions concerning where in the West animals and humans should exist.
The backdrop is a running time clock and a lawsuit. On April 28, a coalition of environmental groups has said it will to go federal court challenging the decision to lift protections.
Until then, the court of public opinion is in session, as cases are built for how the new system of state management is working or not.
One wolf lover in California, in a forum posting on the Web site Yellowstone.net, proposed that tourists boycott Wyoming to protest the policies in a state where at least 10 wolves were shot in the first week after the rule change, according to state figures. Some Wyoming residents responded that such an action would be just fine by them, especially if more Californians stayed home.
Some ranchers and hunters urge caution in killing wolves unnecessarily, to avoid inflaming emotions (we sure wouldn't wan't to hurt their poor feelings) that could haunt the legal process later on.
“I would certainly not want to create any useful ammunition, no pun intended, for the pro-wolf environmental groups that have announced their intention to sue,” said Budd Betts, a dude-ranch operator and former Wyoming state legislator near Jackson Hole. “The legal aspect is connected to the emotional and the political, and no judge is immune.”
Pro-wolf forces, meanwhile, say that wolf killers may have created a martyr. On the first day protections were lifted, a partly crippled and much photographed radio-collared wolf named 253M was legally shot near the town of Daniel in western Wyoming.
The killing made headlines as far away as Utah, where 253M had wandered in 2002, before being transported back to Wyoming. A story in The Salt Lake Tribune quoted a woman as saying she had wept at the news of the animal’s death. (Boo F'n Hoo)
Responding to what it says are numerous public inquiries, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department began a weekly wolf update on its Web site, starting on April 4.
“We’re hearing a lot, from all sectors of the public,” said a spokesman, Eric Keszler. “Some want no wolves to be killed — others ask where the trophy game area is going to be.”
Wyoming, Montana and Idaho plan their first wolf trophy hunting seasons this fall. About 1,500 wolves inhabit the three states, most of them descended from 66 wolves introduced into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in the mid-1990s.
State management plans allow for wolf hunting — or in some places, outright eradication — with a target population of 150 in each of the three states. (Now this is an open tag type operation
)Doug Honnold, the lead lawyer for the environmental coalition planning the lawsuit, said these initial weeks of state management were helping build his case that tougher restrictions on wolf hunting are needed.
“We often segregate the court of law and public opinion, but it’s important to prevail in both,” said Mr. Honnold, who works in the Bozeman, Mont., office of Earthjustice, a conservation group with headquarters in Oakland, Calif. “This wolf mortality that we’re seeing now shows the need for a safety net.”
But John Bair, the chairman of a multistate hunters group, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, which strongly supported taking wolves off the endangered species list, accused opponents of delisting with posturing and harboring hidden agendas. Ranchers and ordinary residents who have killed wolves legally in recent days, he said, are just following the law.
“My opinion is that they don’t really care about the number of wolves — they care about the political advantage,” said Mr. Bair, referring to the environmental groups. “The wolf is their silver bullet to do away with ranching and sport-hunting, which they oppose. That’s what this is about.”
