Posted on 08/28/2009 12:57:31 PM PDT by george76
Radical environmentalists have occasionally argued that the life of one member of an endangered species is worth more than the life of one member of the human race. Judging by the money it is spending on the Mexican wolf reintroduction program, federal and state governments seem to agree with this extremist viewpoint.
$400,000 per Wolf
Since the Mexican wolf reintroduction program was launched more than a decade ago, millions of dollars have been spent by the United States, Arizona and New Mexico governments. The goal was to reestablish a target population of 100 wolves in the mountainous areas of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. By December 31, 2008, all the agencies participating in the reintroduction program—the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the New Mexico and Arizona game departments—estimate they had spent over $18.1 million in this effort. By the end of 2009, these agencies estimate that their total expenditures will be just under $20.5 million. Their exact projected figure is $20,479,088. And, of course, it will be higher ever year in the future.
Wolves Worth More to Government than Humans?
In response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Congress passed the 9/11 Victim’s Compensation Act. This law set the intrinsic value of a human life at $250,000. Higher sums were paid to compensate families for the lost incomes of a love one killed in the attacks. But the value of a human life itself, without regard to that person’s ability to earn money, was set at $250,000.
At $400,000 a wolf and rising, government is valuing the intrinsic value of each wolf more than its values the intrinsic value of human life.
(Excerpt) Read more at riograndefoundation.org ...
You have to ask?
Wolves Worth More to Government than Humans?
Given the deer overpopulation problem..it may be a good investment. I nearly hit several during a short vacation in NM last year.
Who cares?
Congress has no business giving $250,000 to survivors to compensate for the acts of others.
I’m much more comfortable with congress administering our national parks.
Wolves? Heck! they’re killing off vast tracts of CA agriculture and the businesses and employees that go with it for a freakin’ minnow.
The error in this article is that the money spent is not really about wolves. It’s about government workers collecting paychecks while appearing to do actual work. No doubt some/many/all of the government employees involved belong to unions which funnel dues right back into the coffers of the DNC.
Really, this type of project is simply another form of government welfare.
Good article and this is only about the wolf reintroduction program in NM and AZ. I wonder how many tens or hundreds of millions has been spent to reintroduce, study, nurture, pay depredation fees and then kill wolves in the North Western states that kill livestock?
The short answer --- yes.
The longer answer? It's not government per se so much as the foot soldiers that the government employs.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is an endless supply of evil bureaucrats.
The Bureaucratic personality is umcompromisingly literal, devoid of judgement and deluded into believing, as an article of faith, that they are working for a noble cause that ordinary people would never bother to address on their own. Then they are given the mantle of unlimited power. The potential damage has no limit.
Just think of the many alphabet soup agencies world wide that have proliferated since the 70s. Then think of the truly monumental nature preserves, parks and wildlife preservation groups, all either privately and voluntarily funded and administered, or funded through huge private endowments, Long before the oppresive hand of government intruded where it doesn't belong..
Just as there are some things that only government can do, there are also many that governments should never attempt. It never ends well.
We must also not lose sight of the injustices: when hundreds of thousands of not-the-brightest people with control issues are responsible for the results, no one is responsible.
Really, this type of project is simply another form of government welfare.
I absolutely agree.
I've been saying the same thing for over 30 years... at every opportunity.
there is no deer overpopulation problem in NM. Where the heck were you driving and how fast. Our deer struggle for survival and the data shows it.
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