Once-Hated Gray Wolf Thrives in the U.S. Rockies

reuters ^ | 1-5-04 | Judith Crosson

[Restorer]

"In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit."

Wolves aren't evil, they're just wolves.

[doc11355]

As the gray wolf hovered on the brink of extinction a decade ago, U.S. officials embarked on a controversial plan to open the vast refuge of Yellowstone National Park to the pack-based predators in the hopes of rebuilding the species...

The Clinton administration 10 years ago this month released gray wolves imported from Canada...

If the gray wolf is "on the verge of extinction", how come we can import them from Canada?

[Iconoclast2]

The money to reintroduce the wolves was stolen from a fund earmarked for distribution to state f&w agencies. Congress never authorized it.

[Iconoclast2]

Who the h--l are you to approve stealing my money for a program never authorized by any law, then say "make it work", probably by raising taxes further to pay for the destruction wrought by the program? What are you doing on FreeRepublic?

[Patsygirl]

Wonderful to hear! Did anyone read the book, "The Loop"? It was the most rewarding story about the wolves in MT and is well worth one's time. I highly recommend it.

[Eska]

WE have alot of wolves here along the yukon; and everyone is glad to live in country with wolves. They also all want intensive ariel wolf control so they don't get out of hand. Any farmer in America understands this better than all the I wanna kiss the wolves people put together. True balance of nature exists only when the land supports 10% of both ungulates & wolves; rather than the 5 fold increase of game numbers that game management permits. Without wolf control, might as well tell the hunters to sell their guns and quit hunting.

Been quite a few cases of wolves attacking people up here in Alaska. 2 years back a 10 year old was drug by his head from his back yard by a 110 lb yearling. Personally know many people that have had their dogs ate on the chain in their yards by wolves. Twice over the years I had to run out on porch after dark and unload 30 rounders from ar into brush behind my dog lot; then the wolves didn't come back. They get hungry in winter you know. Also have had wolves follow my dogteam on trails, but jump off trail when they saw me coming back thru.

Wolves mostly stay away from people. Go down river 20 miles and the bank is covered with tracks though. We had a young black pup hanging around the house last sept. Hadn't joined up with a pack and was stupid and awful lonely. I'd see him on road in morning and dusk; sitting on the road; picking off neighbors cats. Wasn't 75 lbs and a few times walked up my lane and looked my dogteam over. They wanted to kill him and he was too scared to even get close to them. I didn't have it in me to shoot him, but if there had been an adult would have shot them all if I could. Anyway, after a month, he moved on.

Bottom line is old wolf quickly out grows his place in the scheme of things and hunters and ranchers will be the ones that suffer. Maybe that's what the true balance of nature dictates. With that logic we should also send 90% of the people that live in urban America to death camps to resolve the imbalance of nature there also. Balance of nature is lunacy in the world we live in.

[Sunsong]

nice pic

[Names Ash Housewares]

"Who the h--l are you"

An American. Who are you?

[Names Ash Housewares]

"In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit."

Nonsense. Marriage is a compromise isnt it?

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

If there is evil in your marriage and you compromise.
The evil part will win.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[Goodgirlinred]

Well, you have just said what I believe. I think. God meant for all of us, man and animal, to live on this earth together. We each have our place here and if one dies out, we all suffer.

I did not know that wolves would attack humans. There must not be enough game for them up there. You mentioned that they get hungry. What has happened to the wildlife?

Forgive me, but I am one of those "I wanna kiss the wolves" people. My Malamute/Husky/Lab mix reminds me of a wolf and I kiss him all the time. He kisses me back, too. LOL!

[philman_36]

...David Carridine gets to wear an argyle sweater in the final fight with Chuck.
I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. {;^)

[nightdriver]

"The area just cried out for wolves. We knew if we could just get them in they'd be successful," Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said.

We need to lock a few of these in ol' Bangs' house with him. We'll see if he calls that "successful."

[Iconoclast2]

An American who wants to live in a free republic.

[Eska]

The best way to have the land produce the highest number of wolves is to go in and kill every last one of them off (which is quite difficult) in the alternate game management units that exist in Alaska. When that occurs, the moose populations go right thru the roof. Within 5-7 years the moose are max levels and then wolves move back into the area and also explode. Once they work the moose numbers back down to about 50%, you renew the wolf control. A wolf pack one year can have 5-6 members, 2 years later have 40 members; all dependent on food. Also 50% of all wolves are killed each year by other wolves. So you can see how quickly they can explode and also what is beginning in lower 48.

Without wolf control, an area that can have a high of say 1000 moose and say hundreds of wolves with wolf control will stagnate, remain there and only support say 100 moose and maybe 5-10 wolves without game management. Now wolves also have caribou & sheep, but mainly feed on moose in winter and really can wipe every last moose out in an area and then starve themselves. You see true balance of nature is boom and bust; and lends to very low levels of game overall. Actually, there weren't all that many moose in Alaska in the early 1900's until wolf control was instituted. The super high numbers of 50' and 60's were a result of proper game management. I lived in an area that harvested 200 bulls every year, now only 25 by hunters. The situation is pretty bleak in most areas up here, only reason moose aren't extinct is due to fires and high moose pops in urban areas.

They say that each moose eats 6-12 moose a year. We have over 20,000 wolves. Hunters, subsistence, ect doesn't take 1/5 the moose that wolves do. Got to a balance between user groups and you can't allow politics to affect game management. 30 years of wolf lover money flowing to politiicans up here have about destroyed our moose numbers.

Sweden harvests 10 times the moose that Alaska does; think about that. They also have wolves, like a dozen of them and no more. I hear the people in northern Sweden (wolf country) want those last 12 killed off and the wolf lovers in southern Sweden want them everywhere. Apparently, the people in charge over there have better sense when it comes to the wolves.

You won't find an Alaskan here that wants the wolves completely gone; just controlled so the moose don't end up extinct because of them. You watch what begins to happen out west as the wolves continue to explode over the nx few years. Also so glad we now have a repub gov up here that has some common sense and brings back ariel wolf control over stupid democratic sterilization programs experienced in the past.

[Goodgirlinred]

You sure are giving me a much needed lesson on wildlife management. I used to give money to support the wolves before my husband died. I gave money to a lot of animal wildlife groups. Now I only give to HSUS.

Now I know why I didn't see any moose when I went through Yellowstone several years ago. I was so disappointed because I love moose, too. Well, rats, I love all animals except snakes and spiders and scorpions and icky things like that.

You have made some very valid points. I don't want to see any animal become extinct. However, as you say, we must keep a balance. Thank you for explaining it to me so patiently and in depth.

[nightdriver]

"Wolves mostly stay away from people."

So I thought also, until a friend up in Edmonton loaned me his snowmobile to take a jaunt in the country a few miles north of town.

I happened to glance back and saw one of those Canadian wolves, that they are importing into Yellowstone, loping along behind me.

I kept looking back and a minute later there were three of them! Since Canada refuses to allow you proper defense against these critters, I cut my tour way short.

I would love to have left some of those wolf-lovers there on that trail and see how they fared.

[Eska]

Wolves run our same snowmachine trails too, but they don't get too close to town too often as everyone wants hides hangin on walls and tourists more than anyone, $$$. I have heard a few stories of people who felt threatened by wolves comin in too close 50 miles down river, but they really respect gunfire. They will always stop and mark where my dogteam marks at break points and those are terrific place to make sets. I even know a few lodge owners that put in their own snowmachine trails for tourists , then set those old 111's with nice teeth in the jaws right on the edge of trail under snow. Wolves never run right down middle of trail, but at edge right nx to brush. Seems only to work when you keep getting a little new snow every day or so. The tourists get a big kick of wolves snarlin all tangled with drag. But you only catch the young dumb ones, yearlings with those sets.

I never get so lucky to catch wolves out in the open much, and I carry the ar-15 with team sling and have a 600 liguid WT skandic. Wife and I taught for a year down in a village and they had a big lake miles long with only one cabin on entire lake. Anyway, the local indians would catch them wolves out on open ice and run them down on snowgos. The wolves would split up and they'd angle for the closest one and dust him at 60 mph in the deep snow on the lake. Usually it would only daze & tag the wolf, but then they could shoot it. Pretty tough shooting wolves from snowmachine unless yu can get him slowed down. The wolves would always turn back to rip at the snowmachine at the last minute and everyone was quite proud of the marks the wolves left on their skidoos. I never get so lucky, only see shadows in the brush when it comes to wolves. Old wolf is a survivor and really don't need much protection; also alot smarter than most people on this earth; no joke.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Your accounts of the wolf are most interesting.