Help Save The Wolves

[lillyorchid]

Sorry if this may offend any of you, but wolves are my top #1 favorite animal and this really bugs and disguest me to no end. It only takes about 2 minutes to fill out and send via internet.



Tell the Bush Administration It Has No License to Kill Wolves!


We must stop the Bush Administration's plan to declare open season on the wolves of Greater Yellowstone and central Idaho. Once approved, Wyoming and Idaho intend to begin exterminating up to half their gray wolves -- by aerial gunning and other cruel methods -- as early as this fall.

Submit your Official Citizen Comment, opposing this disastrous plan, before August 6.


http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/actionfund_wolfaerial



The restoration of the gray wolf in the northern Rockies is one of America's greatest environmental success stories. Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone and the central Idaho wilderness in 1995 after being exterminated by settlers, trappers and the federal government. Since then, these new populations have increased to 1200 or so animals. Wolves play a crucial role in northern Rockies ecosystems, helping to preserve riparian forests and maintain healthy populations of raptors, rodents and coyotes. They are also a boon to the region's economy, generating tens of millions of dollars in tourist revenue each year.

But Rocky Mountain wolves are by no means out of danger. The Bush Administration has proposed turning over management authority to state agencies, and the governors of Idaho and Wyoming are seeking to kill off more than 700 wolves -- over two-thirds of the Yellowstone and central Idaho populations. Instead of killing wolves, these states should be redoubling their efforts to protect them in the face of mounting development and other habitat destruction. The Bush Administration should continue protecting wolves under the Endangered Species Act until the states have plans in place to ensure that wolf populations will flourish in the future. They should make certain that connections are maintained between the three populations in the northern Rockies so that these populations remain genetically healthy. These ecological bridges are increasingly important as rural sprawl and industrial development continue to fragment wolf habitat throughout the region.

Even as the Bush Administration pushes ahead with its plan to strip Greater Yellowstone's wolves of federal protection early next year, it has announced a separate proposal to authorize the mass killing of wolves -- even while wolves are still on the endangered species list. The administration wants to be able to kill wolves anywhere that elk herd numbers may be affected by wolves. It is focusing on areas where elk herds are smaller than the states want. But those few cases of declines in elk herds have been caused by a combination of factors including habitat destruction, drought and human hunting -- not just by wolves. And in most areas of the Northern Rockies, elk numbers are at all-time highs.

Government agencies have already purchased planes and helicopters that are capable of gunning down entire packs of wolves in minutes, and state officials have said they would begin slaughtering wolves immediately if the plan is approved, reversing more than a decade of recovery efforts. In Wyoming, wolves would be classified as “predatory animals” in three-fourths of the state, allowing them to be killed by anyone, anywhere, anytime.

[frankykeno]

Damnit those are the gray wolves originally out of Canada! I remember this program and it was a fantastic joint venture (though the US gov't tried to block it back then too by cutting funding).

Here's a bit of information from a case study...

http://www.bioethics.iastate.edu/cla.../graywolf.html

What does Bush and his buddies need another trophy animal to shoot at? Do they not get how important a predator like a wolf is to the health of the hoof stock it feeds on? That wolves also control the overpopulation of rabbits and various other small rodents. That the carcass they leave behind feeds many other animals in their natural world!

In many places where wolves have been hunted out of existance, deer populations explode. The deer begin to overgraze and then winter starve, they can end up with TB, they come in contact with farm stock and that stock becomes infected.

If the wolves have become over-populated then move some to other places that need a top predator for proper balance. Gunning them down, removing wolves that may be the alpha's of their packs, for an animal that survives best in a stable family group...that's just cruel! How sad that some people can't even allow the wild places to be wild anymore.

[jknudson]

We COULD use more wolves in Minnesota....the deer populations are insane! But unfortunately....the numbers of timer wolves in Minnesota are meek...luckily we do have some organizations in place as sanctuaries.

I know there still are people up North that will shoot these protected wolves if they see them on their land.... it is a shame.

[Freakie_frog]

I agree populations should be maintained however the method of population control does seem a little drastic.

[Freakie_frog]

The Bush Administration has proposed turning over management authority to state agencies, and the governors of Idaho and Wyoming are seeking to kill off more than 700 wolves -- over two-thirds of the Yellowstone and central Idaho populations.

Or did I mis read its the governors of the states not the president that is asking for this action ??

[jknudson]

Makes me wonder if this is another issue of ranchers pushing their concerns on the governors...


I've seen a bill like this try to go through in the past because the ranchers were losing numbers of cattle to the increasing wolf populations... however, it is the rancher encroaching on the wolf's territory..and the wolf is just being a wolf.

[Kristy]

I live in North Idaho and I can tell you in the last 15 years, I have only seen two Wolves. ONLY TWO. It pisses me off they are trying to exterminate them.

Its the hunters (which I don't mind hunters and hunting) that are complaining. Due to the Elk population dwendling down. First of all, its not the Wolves (I spend a lot of time out in the national forests) its the invasion on the Elks habitat by the developers up here, the water, we have several lakes in this area surrounded by national forrest, every area around the lakes are being developed by Huge developers Like Powderhorn at the south end of Lake Coeurdalene, 1400 Condos and 3 18 hole golf courses? We don't need that and its driving the animals into town, including Cougars. Its also driving them away. They are moving elsewhere.

I have written many letters to our governor conerning this and haven't heard a thing back from him.
My grandfather happens to be good friends with him, I am hoping to see him in person soon. I will be bringing it up too.

Basically they need to stop issueing hunting tags for Elk, or make it a lottery like the do moose for a long while. Stop developing so freakin' fast and let the elk repopulate the area. It won't happen though, all they (developers,city and state officials) care about is the $$$$ all the development is bring in.
Trust me, this is a very heated debate here in North Idaho.

[frankykeno]

Excellent posts everyone! Kristy thanks for sharing your experience living in one of the areas that will be so heavily affected by this sort of ridiculous excuse for animal control.

I'm firmly convinced this is about developers and our ruining that land that has affected the elk, more so than any wolf pack. We have always been the top predator of our world but unlike other predators we never figured out "you don't crap where you sleep" (as my grandfather used to put it lol). I grew up with hunters who hunted for meat for the table, not trophies for the walls. Wolves don't pass an aged or infirm elk by to go for that prime breeding elk with the big rack...only we do that. The wolves just do what they are supposed to be doing...controlling population, culling the weak, the old, the infirm and the very young and keeping herds healthy and whole.

[Freakie_frog]

Kristy I know in Wyoming you do have to "Pull" for an Elk tag. This means you might or might not get a tag this year. Also your tag specifies which area and what weeks you can hunt that area. I do agree that human encroachment is a major factor. The wolves ( by the numbers I see have made a great rebound. However if your local government is the one pushing to have them killed off then its your governor that needs to hear from you not the President.

[Kristy]

I am not sure, they have a quota though. The Elk tag quota for this year is 5009 which between the Pan Handle National Forrest and the Lolo national forrest just over the Idaho/Montana Border and down south is sold out. I think as long as they have tags, you can buy one until they fill the quota.