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Don't call plugging wolves hunting |
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Written by DEREK GOLDMAN, Writers on the Range
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It's been about three months since wolves in the Northern Rockies were
removed from the protection of the Endangered Species Act. To date, at least
20 wolves have been reported killed in Wyoming, where they may legally be
shot on sight. That's an average of one wolf killed every four and half
days. Five of these wolves were shot in Wyoming during the first weekend
after delisting, with local bloggers bragging about their success:
"Word on the street from the town of Cora is they had a hell of a fine
weekend wolf hunting -- a town wolf hunt," and "I can speak first hand to
the hunting of the wolves. I held two of the dead wolves killed this
weekend. I'm one of the "Red Neck Hunters" and proud of it."
During the first weekend after wolves were delisted, the Casper Star Tribune
reported that "large numbers of hunters reportedly prowled the state's newly
designated wolf predator area in Sublette County." An outfitter boasted he'd
hoped to shoot 10 wolves himself.
These wolves weren't killed by wildlife managers because they'd been eating
cows or sheep. They were mostly shot by people for "sport," their only crime
was that of, well, being a wolf.
Wyoming leads the Northern Rockies in wolf killing because it has the most
egregious plan for wolf management. Montana and Idaho intend to manage
wolves as a game animal, which will eventually include regulated public
hunting. Wyoming, however, classifies wolves as a "predatory animal" in
areas that cover 85 percent of the state. With the exception of Grand Teton
and Yellowstone national parks, plus a small buffer area surrounding the
parks, wolves in Wyoming may be shot on sight anytime and by anyone. You
don't even need a hunting license.
Hunting has a long and proud tradition in this country, and over the years
it has come to incorporate principles such as the doctrine of "fair chase"
and conservation of a limited resource. When you buy a state hunting
license, license fees go to the state fish and game agency to support
wildlife and habitat conservation.
Wolf shooters in Wyoming, however, don't pay license fees so they contribute
nothing to habitat conservation or to the long-term maintenance of the
species. Moreover, the shoot-on-sight policy fails to uphold a key principle
of scientific management -- the gathering of information about what's going
on in the wild. Freelance hunting tells nothing about how many people are
hunting, where they're stalking, or how many wolves they kill. Maybe Wyoming
biologists can check blogs for data.
The restoration of the gray wolf to the Northern Rockies is a remarkable
success story. Wolves now join the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and a host
of other species as an example of how a strong Endangered Species Act has
allowed conservationists to protect and recover wildlife from the brink of
extinction. But delisting wolves without a commitment from all three states
to even-handed, science-based wolf management plans may very well land the
wolf back on the Endangered Species List.
You'd think we'd learned something in the 60-plus years since hunter and
conservationist Aldo Leopold stated the principles of wildlife ecology.
After shooting a wolf while working for the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona,
Leopold wrote of seeing a "fierce, green fire" extinguish in the dying
wolf's eyes. In that moment, he said, he realized that all species were
important, and later concluded that conservation requires us to live in
accordance with all aspects of the natural world around us. "Harmony with
land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and
chop off his left," Leopold said. "That is to say, you cannot love game and
hate predators."
I don't know what Leopold would think about people hunting wolves so soon
after we saved wolves from dying out in the Northern Rockies. But I have no
doubt he'd frown upon Wyoming's 19th century management policy that treats
wolves as pests to be exterminated rather than an integral part of the web
of life.
Derek Goldman is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High
Country News (hcn.org). He lives in Missoula, Montana and serves as the
Northern Rockies representative for the Endangered Species Coalition, a
network of more than 380 scientific, sporting, religious,
humane, business and community groups.
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