Posted on 01/20/2015 4:50:34 AM PST by Kaslin
The 20th anniversary of a government program to bring gray wolves to Yellowstone Park marks two decades of debate over the Federal government’s role in forcing wolves on individuals, communities and states that may, or may not, want them. Sixty Canadian wolves planted in Yellowstone Park in 1995 and 1996 have turned into thousands of wolves roaming the surrounding states. For those who idolize wolves as an icon of the wilderness, this week marks the historic success of a government program to bring a species back to an area it once roamed prior to the settlement of human populations. But there is another side to this story. Many of those forced to live in areas populated by wolves see them as unnecessary, and an expensive burden to state budgets, livestock growers, and hunting industries. As a fourth generation Montanan, who has spent time in Yellowstone Park almost every year for five decades, I find myself in the latter category.
Wolves were removed from most settled areas in the lower 48 states nearly a century ago for a reason – they are a very difficult predator to manage. This is an apex predator that multiplies quickly and must kill more animals to survive than any other species in North America. It is also a species that is a threat to humans, as evidenced in the recent death of a teacher in Alaska who was killed by wolves while jogging.
The Greater Yellowstone Area is not what it was 20 years ago. Elk and moose populations have been decimated. One of the most scenic drives in Montana is the route from West Yellowstone to Bozeman on Highway 191. Twenty years ago, this 90 mile stretch of road that follows the Gallatin River, offered a chance to view herds of elk along with moose and other wildlife. Today it is rare to cross paths with an elk or moose. Large herds of elk that once wintered in the Gallatin Canyon are gone. The northern Yellowstone elk herd numbered over 20,000 in 1995. Today less than 4,000 elk remain. Wolves effectively changed the wildlife paradigm.
Wolf predation has been touted as a necessary ingredient for a healthy eco-system. Environmentalists claim an apex predator is necessary to control and improve wildlife populations, but those who make this argument ignore the contribution of the most effective apex predator, mankind. State hunting programs, including late season hunts, are a far more effective way to control wildlife populations. A thriving hunting industry equates to more revenue for state budgets and more revenue for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks programs through the sale of hunting licenses. More opportunity to hunt elk also means more families are able to put a great source of protein on their tables with little expense.
Dogs may be man’s best friend, but wolves are a rancher’s worst nightmare. Despite programs to compensate livestock owners for predation losses, the mere fact that wolves are in the vicinity of cattle, sheep, or horses results in expenses associated with conflict mitigation and, in many cases, a loss of livestock weight due to the nervous behavior of animals when wolves are nearby. Wolves simply don’t mix well with livestock.
Regardless of which side of the wolf debate a person may land, we should all be able to agree that decisions on how to manage wolves should be left up to local communities and states, rather than bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., or a single judge applying an opinion of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). After all, every elected official swears an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution that explicitly states powers not enumerated therein are reserved to the states and people. The ESA is not authorized by the Constitution and its implementation is an inappropriate and contrived federal seizure of states’ rights.
Since its passage in 1973 the ESA has been ineffective in achieving its species recovery objectives. Over 2,000 species are listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA, over the past 40 years less than 1% have been deemed recovered and delisted – hardly a success story. One of the primary problems with the ESA is the broad criteria used in listing a species. The vast majority of species listed are in no danger of extinction. The gray wolf is a prime example. This is an animal that has never been in any danger of extinction and should never have been granted Federal protection under the ESA. The ESA however, has been applied to subspecies and demographic population segments, in addition to entire species. This is the case for the wolf in the northern Rockies that is listed as a distinct population segment, while the entire species is not endangered. It is an example of how, unfortunately, the ESA provides far too much arbitrary power to government agencies and courts, and allows them to circumvent state’s rights outlined in the 5th and 10th Amendments.
Montana and Idaho were only allowed to manage wolves after Congress stepped in and passed legislation that delisted the gray wolf in these two states in 2011. Now several members of Congress are preparing similar legislation to delist wolves in Wyoming, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. The ESA desperately needs to be reformed. Congress should not have to check and balance the executive branch by delisting species because agencies fail to do their jobs, or unwarranted court decisions override state laws. The ESA has become a convenient tool for radical environmentalists and government agencies to pursue their agendas at the expense of state’s rights and the rights of private property owners. It’s time to let Montana and other states decide how they want to manage wildlife populations within their borders.
SSS
Police your brass
Soon, elk will be introduced in the county immediately adjacent to the west side of said refuge and there is nothing but forests connecting the refuge and the intended area where elk will be let free. How long do they expect those elk will live before they become feed for the wolves?
Even though Wisconsin introduced a hunting season for wolves, the allowable kill number is not anywhere close to keeping the population in check. Not saying that I applaud the idea but around here, it's “shoot, shovel and shut up”
So they are starting a wolf feeding program then.
There is a reason wolves were eradicated.
Thanks for your post.
I have hunted for years in the area north of Yellowstone Park where the elk herds once numbered 20,000 healthy animals.
One longtime rancher and hunting outfitter described that herd as one of the great wonders of the natural world.
Since Canadian wolves were introduced the resident elk herd is now closer to a few thousand, if that, and still falling.
Moose, mountain goats and big horn sheep are also greatly reduced in number (moose numbers especially are close to collapse).
And Canadian wolves don’t just kill. They harass, maim, slaughter for sport. They drag down cows and eat only the fetuses out of them, they run big bulls to death in the deep snow. A friend of mine has actually watched them run an elk herd up and down the sides of a canyon, again and again, until the elk begin to drop from exhaustion-—this is plainly not just to eat, because they could chase and drag down a few elk if they wanted to.
Many are the stories of elk seen wandering around with their hindquarters mostly ripped off, slowly bleeding to death, while the wolves have moved on to other “game,” so to speak.
It’s a bad, destructive, death-based policy, intended mostly to discourage ranching and to eliminate hunting. The introduction of the Canadian wolf to Montana has weird parallels to the Left’s obsession with abortion, so it seems to me.
They loathe humankind and they revel in death.
This cannot be repeated enough! Our forefathers knew what they were doing when they eradicated the wolf from most of the west. Humans and wolves do not coexist well and it is the wolf that needs to move aside.
As I understand it, the driving force behind the re-introduction of wolves to the Rockies were the Klintoons, primarily Hitlery as I recall. If you fear for Bambi, talk to Her Thighness.
Reintroduction of the wolves is one of the most idiotic ideas ever conceived of by the human race.
Exactly
I don’t care who it was. The point is that it is the most ridiculous and stupid idea anyone came up with
Minnesota law is so confusing!
“I don’t care who it was. The point is that it is the most ridiculous and stupid idea anyone came up with”
No question about that. Still, it bears the imprint of the Klintoon crust.
“I don’t care who it was. The point is that it is the most ridiculous and stupid idea anyone came up with.”
No, the morally and mentally deficient libtards outdid themselves and came up with the Mother of All Stupid Ideas when they went for broke and claimed not only were wolves endangered, but everything on the whole planet is endangered, and in their mind, removal of humans is the solution.
We followed the guy as he fed all the animals frozen meat. I got freaked out as he threw a frozen chicken to the cougars. The chicken was the size of a human head and even frozen I will not forget the crunch knowing that that could have been a human head.
The place had two wolves that really freaked me out. The alpha female rushed the fence quickly in our direction and all I could think was, "what if I were out camping somewhere I thought was safe and this thing rushed me and then attacked."
They should send the Canadian wolves back where they found them in the wilds of Canada where people normally carry guns in order to defend themselves from these kind of predators.
I've been making this point for years now here on FR. Glad to see it getting some print.
This is capriciously applied tyranny, plain and simple, without any respect for states' rights nor for private property rights.
The ESA must be repealed.
Sixty Huge Canadian timber wolves were planted in Yellowstone Park with the government promise that their numbers would be held at 300.
Now there are thousands of these non-native monsters thanks to corrupt Judges ...
Another temporary , expensive, government program that will never end on its own.
If deer, or elk, have no natural predators, they become over-populated, change the balance of the flora where they are most often and spread their range into bordering areas occupied by humans.
If wolves have no natural predators (humans), they will grow in population and they will gradually decimate their favorite prey so much they will go searching for more prey in areas bordering their primary habitat, occupied by humans.
Hunting is a tool that humans can use to help keep the wolf population down, but it too should not be used to completely decimate the wolf population, or the animals that are its natural prey will become over populated and present different sorts of problems to the habitat and to humans.
The process of human managed animal control should be one of seeking a balance of the natural animal environment, not “elimination” of “a predator”, because some predators also do the work of helping to prevent overgrowth and overpopulation of other species, that if not prevented has other consequences to the habitat.
Amen...I'll add that the life of every Canadian timber wolf in the lower 48 should be repealed along with the ESA.
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