Bad news is sometimes slow to be passed along. On September 27th the state of Washington by an agent in a helicopter killed the alpha male of the Wedge Pack. Wedge pack was living just south of the Canadian border in Steven County, but it is no more. The alpha female was among six other killed in the previous three days. The justification for the pack's extermination was "its persistent attack on livestock from the heard of the Diamond M Ranch." The pack was made responsible for the killing or injuring of 17 calves and cows. Some of these predations were not corroborated by evidence. These animals, as well as the rest of the herd, are feeding on public forest land. Conservationists think wolves have an equal right, if not greater right, to exist on public lands than subsidized cattle. The chair of the Washington State Senate committee that oversees the Department of Fish & Wildlife issued a letter to the agency saying the decision to exterminate the pack was a "serious failure". The letter noted that the Diamond M ranch owner "refused to participate" in wolf attack prevention efforts. Other area ranchers had adopted a range riding program to reduce wolf predation. If a ranch owner insists on using public forest land to feed his livestock, the owner should be required to protect his property from wolf attack using modern, non-lethal methods such as canine guardians that are used successfully elsewhere in the world. But here in the United States where private property is protected regardless of social costs, (
e,g, Gulf of Mexico) the ranch owner has chosen to go on a media offensive instead, claiming that radical groups have deliberately introduced wolves to drive ranchers off public lands. Once again the ploy, when feeling threaten blame unspecified "
radicals", seems to have carried the day.
Meanwhile, a lone Oregon wolf known as OR-7 or "Journey" has wandered out of Oregon that has proved itself none too friendly to wolves and reached temporary safety in California where the California Department of Fish & Game voted to make the grey wolf a candidate for permanent protection under the state's endangered species act. The department will make a one-year status review to decide if the grey wolf will be given long-term protection in California.
