Posted on 12/03/2013 12:44:44 PM PST by george76
Past experience in Idaho, northeastern Oregon and Washington state illustrate that it's time to take gray wolves completely off the federal list of endangered species.
The West’s wolf problem started in 1995 and 1996. That’s when 66 wolves from Canada were reintroduced in Idaho and Yellowstone National Park.
Those wolves multiplied and spread into Wyoming, Utah and Oregon. They also took up residence in Washington state and Montana, where other wolves from Canada already lived. Today at least 1,674 wolves live in 321 packs within the region, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That’s in addition to the 65,000 wolves living in Canada and Alaska.
One does not have to be a wildlife biologist to see the gray wolf is not an endangered species in any sense of the word.
The rapid spread and population growth of the gray wolf is proof that it is here to stay. Across the West, the wolf has established itself as a top predator. Where once there were no packs, hundreds now thrive. That’s in addition to a thriving wolf population across the upper Midwest.
...
it is ranchers who need protection, not wolves.
(Excerpt) Read more at capitalpress.com ...
This looks like an employment program for wildlife biologists. Too many have these degrees and they want to keep these wolves endangered. Or they are out of a job.
They could breed the sage grouse, etc. in farms if they wanted more birds
LOL, I can’t believe people feel that way.
What in the hell do we need wolfs running around all over the place for?
I mean, this isn’t some diorama, this is real life.
People are so, so ignorant.
Get rid of ‘em all and throw down a bunch of poison bait all over the place. I never understood why people get upset at “extinction.” I mean, it happens, let the dam things go.
Would you want a bunch of those Dinosaur era monsters running wild all over the place killing us left and right and eating every fish in the sea?
Those would be "wild lie biologists."
Too many have these degrees and they want to keep these wolves endangered. Or they are out of a job.
They are the white slaves of the 21st Century.
It’s a living! A Gov’t job is a good job! Sometimes the only job around. Look at all the climate scientists on the Federale Gov’t tit. We have a surplus of such scientists and they need jobs and grants. Grants keep their budding climatologist grad students in the green
It also keeps the universities pumping out more of them.
You know a lot more than I do.
But the longtime locals here call it the “introduction” of the recent wolves, as they are not the same species as the wolves native to the area.
The native wolves, Northern Rocky Mountain Timber wolves (Canis Lupus Irremotus, so say the locals) were smaller and tended to hunt singly or in pairs.
The transplanted wolves, Canadian Grays (Canis Lupus Occidentalis) are big beasts, as you know, and like to hunt—or shall we say slaughter—in packs.
All this, at least, is my understanding.
Actually, they may be wrong there, although I am sympathetic with the argument ecologically, but do not agree genetically. A "species" is defined by all that is capable of producing viable hybrids. Hence, horses and donkeys are separate species because mules are sterile. On the other hand, dogs and wolves may not be because they do interbreed and bear viable progeny capable of reproducing (which really crashes the greenie "endangered species" argument, BTW). Look at the differences among domestic dogs. That is but one species; i.e., they can interbreed. Hence, they are not different species although they do possess heritable differences.
The Canadian wolf and the US domestic variety are functionally different in that the larger size of the former is far more capable of taking down their prey in this system, which they have done. Yet they are not genetically different. They may be epigenetically different, in that their habitat has impressed upon them tendency toward larger size because of the larger prey they have up there. In fact, depending upon food, a canid such as the American wolf can scale upwards to twice its size in but five generations under sufficiently favorable conditions.
I know that throws a monkey wrench into the argument, but truth does come first. The point as far as I am concerned is that if elk were overpopulated (which they were) the states should have issued more cow tags instead of bringing in wolves.
Are you in Oklahoma?
You sound like you live just down the road in Montana.
I have seen your case made before, and find it reasonable. Pro-wolf people will claim they are actually the same species while people on the ground here say “maybe so strictly speaking but these animals are way bigger and act differently.”
I am certainly willing to accept your point.
You are right about the cow tags and so on. There are any number of courses our Fish, Wildlife & Parks Department might have followed, but they are so horridly politicized...it’s just unbelievable now, I have friends, one a really decent human being, who have risen to top positions and now stand before microphones lying without scruple.
You can tell by the wear and tear on them but if they buck the system-—if they even hint at the truth-—they will effectively end their careers.
Personally I can’t imagine having to do it, or doing it even if I “had to”...makes me think of the (paraphrased) Clint Eastwood line:
Josey: Why do you do it?
Bounty Hunter: It’s a living.
Josey: Lying ain’t much of a living, boy.
Ha!
No. I'm a native Californian.
You sound like you live just down the road in Montana.
lol
I have friends, one a really decent human being, who have risen to top positions and now stand before microphones lying without scruple.
Yup. It sucks all right. I call them "wild-lie biologists, the white slaves of the 21st Century." 'But I'd lose my retirement!!!' hardly stacks against "our lives, our fortunes, and our Sacred honor," does it?
From the agency perspective, a lot of it is about the cost of being sued. The greenies have truckloads of foundation money, whose owners have big financial stakes (steaks?) in this game: absolute control of food, water, and energy, all for fun and profit while they screw up the planet they purport to save.
wolves and hydatid disease due to Echinococcosis granulosus tape worms. Two thirds of wolves examined now contain this pest. The eggs last 25 years in soil and can be inhaled in dust.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3097828/posts?page=33#33
Forget that. Poison bait can kill off scavengers like raptors also, no?
I take it you're some kind of expert? According to Dr. L. David Mech (who is the expert on this topic), one can kill 70% of the adult wolf population to no effect. Poison bait is the only thing that works.
Poison bait can kill off scavengers like raptors also, no?
In theory, yes, in practice, maybe not. This isn't an instance in which we have nice choices. The granulossus tapeworms are infecting caribou, moose, mule deer, and elk. Don't you care about them?
It's the idiot romantics crazed about the wolf with no accountability for the consequences that got us into this mess. Frankly, not only should they own it, they should pay for it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.