Should Wolves Keep Protected Status in Idaho or Should They Be Hunted?
SodaHead News
2011/04/11 18:00:00
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According to some, Idaho is a facing a “wolf-pocalypse.” After landing on the endangered species list, wolves have rebounded in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming since being reintroduced in the northern Rocky Mountains in 1995. Now, though, Idaho is facing what’s being called a “wolf disaster” because of the rising population of the lupine species.
According to ABC News, the Idaho legislature approved a bill last week that would give Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter the power to declare a state of emergency that would allow local law enforcement to cull the state’s wolf packs.
Like its neighbors, Idaho has been fighting the government and environmental groups since 1995 over claims that wolves are attacking livestock and also thinning the populations of elk and other wildlife. The bill awaiting Otter’s signature refers to the problem as a “clear and present danger to humans" that is a result of the "imported wolves."
One Idaho resident who spoke in support of the bill claimed that she was terrified when four wolves recently trapped her in her driveway. But biologists note that no human has ever been injured by a wolf since their reintroduction 16 years ago and that there has never been a single documented attack on a human by a healthy wolf in North America.
The Associated Press recently reported that the wolf population in the Northern Rockies actually dropped in 2010 by 5 percent, the first annual decline since their reintroduction, with Idaho seeing a 19 percent decline. Biologists took it as a sign that the wolf population may be stabilizing in the state and may even be starting a slow decline.
Wolves were taken off the endangered list in Idaho and Montana in 2009, which gave the states the right to come up with a management plan for the animals. But that management hasn’t happened because of ongoing legal battles over the interpretation of the Endangered Species Act.
With states fearing federal action to protect the species, no action can be taken until the ESA hangup is hammered out. So, for now, World War Wolf will continue until both sides can agree how to manage the population.
Do you think wolves should keep their protected status in Idaho or be hunted?
According to ABC News, the Idaho legislature approved a bill last week that would give Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter the power to declare a state of emergency that would allow local law enforcement to cull the state’s wolf packs.
Like its neighbors, Idaho has been fighting the government and environmental groups since 1995 over claims that wolves are attacking livestock and also thinning the populations of elk and other wildlife. The bill awaiting Otter’s signature refers to the problem as a “clear and present danger to humans" that is a result of the "imported wolves."
One Idaho resident who spoke in support of the bill claimed that she was terrified when four wolves recently trapped her in her driveway. But biologists note that no human has ever been injured by a wolf since their reintroduction 16 years ago and that there has never been a single documented attack on a human by a healthy wolf in North America.
The Associated Press recently reported that the wolf population in the Northern Rockies actually dropped in 2010 by 5 percent, the first annual decline since their reintroduction, with Idaho seeing a 19 percent decline. Biologists took it as a sign that the wolf population may be stabilizing in the state and may even be starting a slow decline.
Wolves were taken off the endangered list in Idaho and Montana in 2009, which gave the states the right to come up with a management plan for the animals. But that management hasn’t happened because of ongoing legal battles over the interpretation of the Endangered Species Act.
With states fearing federal action to protect the species, no action can be taken until the ESA hangup is hammered out. So, for now, World War Wolf will continue until both sides can agree how to manage the population.
Do you think wolves should keep their protected status in Idaho or be hunted?
Top Opinion
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ASPEN 2011/04/11 21:18:44It's time to hunt them again
+15Contrary to what the EPA wackos are saying the Wolf is in fact over populated. As the daughter of Cattle, Horse, & Sheep Ranchers we have a huge problem with the over population of Wolves here in the mountains of Colorado and everyone is allowed 10 wolves per year per member in a family. Wolves are dangerous and no longer fear humans which makes them a *Nuisance * and a danger to humans and livestock etc. Denning is also something we do as well. Of course their will be those who don't understand the problem and who will think that allowing Wolves to over populate is a good thing when in fact allowing any species to over populate destroys the eco~system. Man must keep nature balanced.
March, 2009
Alaska abruptly resumed shooting wolves from helicopters this weekend in hopes that shooting the wolves will increase the population of caribou for hunters to kill. The state plans to kill up to 328 wolves, sparing under 100 in the Yukon area.
Not everyone in Alaska is gung-ho about the plan. The National Park Service has been collaring wolves for a two-decade-long study tracking predator-prey relationships, and now many of those wolves are bound to turn up dead.
>>UPDATE: Defenders of Wildlife has taken legal action to stop the hunt.
Source: Planetsave (http://s.tt/12tts)
Here is a bit of reality, if we continue to allow wolves to overpopulate and feed at will from our livestock herds and flocks, the cost of those agri-based businesses will drive that industry to its death in the U.S. Globalization makes it already hard enough to remain financialy solvent in a country that looks at any business EXCEPT politicians as piggy banks to be raided at will.
If you think you are paying too much for your food now? Just wait until your only choice for beef is imported beef because nobody dare try to make a living feeding the wolves and then trying to sell what of the herd might be left--all because some hippies living in the city, who never had to work outside a day in their lives THINK they know how to run an ecology that MUST have human interface with it!
Where the wolves are so plentiful that they do not fear humans and feast at will on our livestock, IT IS TIME TO GO GET SOME BEAUTIFUL NEW WOLF PELTS!
Where the wolves are truly endangered? Let them be.
If hippies and bleeding hearts don't like th...
Here is a bit of reality, if we continue to allow wolves to overpopulate and feed at will from our livestock herds and flocks, the cost of those agri-based businesses will drive that industry to its death in the U.S. Globalization makes it already hard enough to remain financialy solvent in a country that looks at any business EXCEPT politicians as piggy banks to be raided at will.
If you think you are paying too much for your food now? Just wait until your only choice for beef is imported beef because nobody dare try to make a living feeding the wolves and then trying to sell what of the herd might be left--all because some hippies living in the city, who never had to work outside a day in their lives THINK they know how to run an ecology that MUST have human interface with it!
Where the wolves are so plentiful that they do not fear humans and feast at will on our livestock, IT IS TIME TO GO GET SOME BEAUTIFUL NEW WOLF PELTS!
Where the wolves are truly endangered? Let them be.
If hippies and bleeding hearts don't like that? Let them open their wallets and pay for the losses of the ranchers OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS!
Put your money where your mouth is or let the ranchers do what they need to do to survive.
P.S. If the wolves MUST eat livestock, then there is not enough natural food for them, thus they are OVERPOPULATED!
They want to reduce the population. Yes, "population" cause the governments don't see those who they represent as "people" anymore.
Every time man does the balancing the results are disastrous and history shows this!
Apparently you have NEVER hit any deer or elk with a car
I can also see that you are ignorant about the balance of nature. You ignorance and fear of wolves shows. Educate yourself!
You have never seen the wild areas in New York and seeing that you cannot spell the proof is evident that you are also stupid,probably caused by inbreeding and molesting sheep and other animals.
Its funny how you went from elk to cows! Do they run when they see you?
Let's see how you feel about it when your pay is reduced by the market price of the animals they consume from a herd! Oh....and let's add the costs of raising those wolf "dinners" to the day they are consumed too! For just a yearling calf--the bidding starts at $1500 a meal!
I'll bet you'll sing a totally different tune then! Either that our you'll be to hungry to sing!
Of course so long as you don't have to pay for such dinning fare, the loss is never critical!
So while you dream of a world where we don't need animal flesh for our diets, reality says that the luxury of allowing predators to feed for free on our food supplies because some people don't like it is not sustainable.
People dream of changing economic "games", Marx did, Lennin did, Mao did.
Funny thing is, nobody likes working for free...or darn near next to it, while the "leaders" get all the rewards! Slavery tends to piss the workers off, something to do with not getting rewarded for their efforts.
So until we can evolve to the point where we like to work for free, even when others "freeload"....this economic system is the best one we got.
Thank you for proving my point. You need to research and find where all the various foodstuffs you need to get your diet originated from hotrod.
I say again, there is not a single place on the planet that has as it's INDIGINIOUS (that means occurning naturally) plantlife enough variety to provide for proper human nutrition.
Without moving seeds or plants from all over the world to the United States, there is not enough variety of food in the form of plant matter alone to keep you healthy.
P.S. What are those supplenments you take if not "man made"?
Even if they are made from natural sources, they still are not occuring without factories, chemestry and artificial processing.
Try again yourself.
Proved what point? If anything you're talking in circles. Do you actually know what the nutrient requirements of the human body are? I'll entertain your tangent, because I'm bored: Name a single CRUCIAL dietary nutrient that cannot be accessed via plant life that either is or can be harvested in in the United States.
Without man made, artificially produced supplements, OR bringing in plant life that is not indiginous to the region, there is not a single place on earth that has naturally occuring vegitation to complete a healthy diet for human biengs.
Therefore, a vegan diet, while possible, IS NOT a natually occuring phenomenon!
A Naturally occuring healthy human diet REQUIRES the supplementation of vegatation with SOME FORM OF ANIMAL OR INSECT PROTIENS OR the use of vegitation not naturally occuring in the area WITH ARTIFICIALLY PRODUCED SUPPLEMENTS!
Prior to the White man's migration--which involved man bringing non-indigious plant life with them, America did not have Wheat, Barley, Rye, Rice, Potato, Pomegranite, Oranges, the list goes on and on. MAN BROUGHT THOSE HERE IN JUST THE LAST 300 YEARS.
I beg to inform you of the meaning of the word "indiginous".
Indiginous: Produced, living, growing, or occuring naturally in a particular region or environment. Ref:http://www.merriam-webste...
Please pay attention, details are important.
If you desire to argue further, find some place else, I am done arguing with an idiot.
It appears we have a strawman on our hands...
No need to worry about pollution because if we create it, it is natural?
You got backed into a corner and you know it.
Straw man indeed.
I side with the former group and have little to offer the latter group other than my contempt.
Edit: the last sentence should read "...the latter group's position other than..." instead of "...the latter group..."
Are humans a danger to themselves, the earth and everything on it, YES we are !
We have distroyed the planet and have over populated it so maybe it is time to do away with many of the nasty people for once and for all ! We should start with those that have a financial stake ! After all money is the root of ALL EVIL. Now you know where MY CONTEMPT is and always will be ! I find you mean, self conceeded and very uneducated, I would rather share this planet with nature than with people like you any day of the week !