About 30 years ago one of Reagan's environmentalists thought to prove that DDT was harmless by eating a spoonful on camera! (He's gone now.) But the idiocy continues.
Idaho's governor said Thursday he will support public hunts to kill all but 100 of the state's gray wolves after the federal government strips them of protection under the Endangered Species Act. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter told The Associated Press that he wants hunters to kill about 550 gray wolves. That would leave about 100 wolves, or 10 packs, according to a population estimate by state wildlife officials. The 100 surviving wolves would be the minimum before the animals could again be considered endangered.
[Image from FWS Collection]
This isn't a war on wolves--it's the latest salvo on the War on Science.
The logic behind the attack on Idaho's wolves is shakey at best.
MYTH: Wolves devastate elk herds leaving hunters with fewer elk to kill.
REALITY: Elk and deer populations have been relatively unaffected by wolves. DETAILS: Wolves prey upon deer and elk as do other predators, but what has been the impact to our game herds? Despite rumors that wolves are depleting elk and deer for game hunting, data from Idaho Department of Fish and Game shows that as the wolf population has steadily increased since 2003, so has the hunter harvest success rate.
And of course, there are many, many more deer than there were 100 years ago, because they thrive on the "browse" at the edge of plowed fields, and have been artificially increased for hunters.
And wolves are nothing but dogs. If we suggested that we all go out and shoot the dogs in the neighborhood, what would the reaction be?
But that's not the worst part.
Rodents form a major part of their diet.
That means that what ranchers believe is a major threat to cattle--prairie dogs will increase, along with the rodents that infest the silos and corn cribs. But who cares! We can just add more poison. The only people exposed will be the workers and the consumers.
Enough of sarcasm. In Idaho, much of the resentment isn't so much directed at wolves as at the power of the federal government. (Privacy? Ya mean that the government can not only come into your bedroom and your doctor's office, but walk my fields?}
To these people, money talks. So let me humbly suggest a tactic. Today, call or email a resort or a vacation locale in Idaho and tell the owner why you will not be vacationing there now or in the future. (It's even better if you actually have a trip planned to ski in Vermont, but it's the thought that counts.)
I hate to say O'Reilly's right, but a real boycot of Idaho would work wonders, and would be a great practice exercise for future issues.