The wolf has become the
bête noir for right-wingers obsessed with what they see as government interference in their businesses while they stuff their pockets with tax subsidies such as low cost grazing on public lands. Oregon activists inserted themselves into a meeting
[video]of the Cattlemen's Association to protest the consideration of a bill (HR 4158) to allow killing of wolves by declaring an emergency in order to circumventing the state's endangered species act. Colloquially known as the "wolf-kill bill" it is the handiwork of the Association, and a typical example of how business interest groups dominate the legislative process at the state level. The bill is unlikely to reach a full vote in the abbreviated session of legislature, this time. Ranchers have a long history of attempting to eradicate the wolf, and the current federal and state policies allowing the wolf to survive in its former range is inimical to their subculture and sense of entitlement. A court injunction was necessary to protect the male alpha of the Imnaha pack from being killed by state hunters for alleged livestock kills.
Typically, Idaho is forging ahead with its anti-wolf agenda. The state senate resources committee passed S1305, a wolf killing bill, for a full vote on the floor. Support for the bill was unanimous among Republicans who voted in favor despite the bill possibly being the basis for re-listing the wolf as endangered under federal law. The fervor of anti-wolf bias in Idaho is something that transcends rationality and is nurtured by ignorance. In a state racked by rural poverty, it spent $22,500 to kill 14 wolves in the Lolo area. The expense was justified as necessary to protect the elk herd. Elk numbers have declined due to changes in habitat, but the state Department of Fish & Game has in recent years blamed wolves for the elk decline despite forest cover limiting the amount of elk forage and open areas the elk need to thrive.
Good news from Arizona, however. Besides being a western state most supportive of conservation (in a recent poll conducted by Colorado State University, 78% of Arizonans agree that it is possible to have a strong economy with high employment while protecting land and water), the Mexican wolf population is increasing. This wolf subspecies was effectively eliminated from the United States according to the USFWS, but reintroduction efforts are bearing pups. Researchers completed the
2011 count in January and they estimate a minimum population of 58 wolves and seven breeding pairs. Unfortunately release of more wolves by Arizona Fish & Game is on hold because the New Mexicans installed a "tea-party' governor who withdrew the state from the program
[map]. The minimum goal for recovery is 100, but anti-wolf hysteria has hampered the program from the start. Because the released Mexican wolves were raised in captivity, they had to relearn their wild hunting skills from scratch. The fact that the population is increasing is testament to the wolf's incredible resiliency.
Idaho used hunters from the wildlife killing arm of the US Department of Agriculture whose title "Wildlife Services" is totally misleading. This agency functions as a taxpayer-funded extermination service for the ranching industry. It kills all kinds of predators, not just wolves, deemed to be a nuisance to agriculturalists. Think of it as the SS of agribusiness. They use traps and poisons too. Sometimes these operations go awry and people's pets are killed instead.
Here is just one story of a beloved pet husky, Bella, who almost lost her life and a did loose a leg to a USDA Wildlife Service snare. There are many more such stories to be told.
