Pathological hatred is no rationale for killing wolves. That a single pair of wolves has managed to evade the fusillade of bullets every Wyoming wolf faces is a miracle, but hardly an excuse to call off reintroduction. The father of game management in America, Aldo Leopold, wrote, “Harmony with the land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators. ...The land is one organism.” And, “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Wolves have been an integral part of America’s wildlife for 800,000 years, and should be returned to restore the health of deer, elk, and moose in Colorado, where they are dying of chronic wasting disease.
Brian G. is misinformed. Here are the data on elk populations from Idaho, Montana, and Wyomng.
In 2018, the three northern Rocky Mountain states that have had wolves since 1995 reported their elk populations, harvests, and hunter success rates as follows:
Wyoming - 1995 elk population = 103,448; 1995 elk harvest = 17,695. 2017 elk population = 104, 800 (31% over objective) 2017 elk harvest = 24,535, average hunter success rate = 35%;
Montana – 1995 elk population = 109,500, no harvest data for 1995. 2018 elk population = 138,470 ( 27% over upper objective) 2017 elk harvest = 30,348,;
Idaho – 1995 elk population = 112,333, 1995 elk harvest = 22,400. 2017 elk population = 116,800 (18 elk units at or above objective, 10 units below for a variety of reasons), 2017 elk harvest = 22,751
Misguided legislatures in Idaho and Montana have taken over wildlife management from the agencies, and are returning their states to the 1890s. Wolves are essential to healthy ecosystems by keeping their prey to numbers sustainable by their forage. Also Leopold, considered the father of game management in America, knew this when he wrote, "Harmony with the land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators."
Newcomers to the wolf issue may not recall that the father of wildlife management in America. Aldo Leopold, had an epiphany about wolves after he shot one, and then observed wolf-less wildlife ranges destroyed by overgrazing. See his essays in A Sand County Almanac. The U.S. Senate passed the Endangered Species Act of 1973 unanimously, and wolves were listed the next year. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf biologists restored wolves to Yellowstone and central Idaho in Idaho under the ESA in 1995-1996, after considering 160,000 comments from 50 states and 40 countries. Intensive studies of the Yellowstone wolves for 25 years have yielded a quantum leap forward in our understanding of how wolves live. Read Yellowstone Science Vol. 24 No. 1, available at www.nps.gov/yellowstonescience. For more depth, get Mech, Smith, and MacNulty. 2015. Wolves on the Hunt. Go deeper by reading Smith Stahler and MacNulty. 2020. Yellowstone Wolves. Finally, “You don’t shoot your ally.” Wolves, with a thousand times the olfactory capacity of humans, can detect and kill deer and elk infected with chronic wasting disease, which is menacing all members of the deer family, and could end hunting for all of us. Wolves do that for free, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Bruce L. Smith, PhD, USFWS, was the National Elk Refuge biologist. He wrote WHERE ELK ROAM: Conservation and Biopolitics of Our National Elk Herd in 2012. If you want to get the facts, they are there. On CWD and the refuge,, Todd Wilkinson has written a series of four articles about them available here. https://mountainjournal.org/experts-demand-call-to-action-in-fighting-chronic-wasting-disease. Bag barstool biology. Read.
4 years ago
Colorado confirms first gray wolf pupsPathological hatred is no rationale for killing wolves. That a single pair of wolves has managed to evade the fusillade of bullets every Wyoming wolf faces is a miracle, but hardly an excuse to call off reintroduction. The father of game management in America, Aldo Leopold, wrote, “Harmony with the land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators. ...The land is one organism.” And, “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Wolves have been an integral part of America’s wildlife for 800,000 years, and should be returned to restore the health of deer, elk, and moose in Colorado, where they are dying of chronic wasting disease.
5 years ago
Colorado identifies potential breeding pair of wolvesBrian G. is misinformed. Here are the data on elk populations from Idaho, Montana, and Wyomng.
In 2018, the three northern Rocky Mountain states that have had wolves since 1995 reported their elk populations, harvests, and hunter success rates as follows:
Wyoming - 1995 elk population = 103,448; 1995 elk harvest = 17,695.
2017 elk population = 104, 800 (31% over objective) 2017 elk harvest = 24,535, average hunter success rate = 35%;
Montana – 1995 elk population = 109,500, no harvest data for 1995.
2018 elk population = 138,470 ( 27% over upper objective) 2017 elk harvest = 30,348,;
Idaho – 1995 elk population = 112,333, 1995 elk harvest = 22,400.
2017 elk population = 116,800 (18 elk units at or above objective, 10 units below for a variety of reasons), 2017 elk harvest = 22,751
Misguided legislatures in Idaho and Montana have taken over wildlife management from the agencies, and are returning their states to the 1890s. Wolves are essential to healthy ecosystems by keeping their prey to numbers sustainable by their forage. Also Leopold, considered the father of game management in America, knew this when he wrote, "Harmony with the land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators."
5 years ago
Lawsuit filed to restore federal protections to gray wolvesNewcomers to the wolf issue may not recall that the father of wildlife management in America. Aldo Leopold, had an epiphany about wolves after he shot one, and then observed wolf-less wildlife ranges destroyed by overgrazing. See his essays in A Sand County Almanac. The U.S. Senate passed the Endangered Species Act of 1973 unanimously, and wolves were listed the next year. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf biologists restored wolves to Yellowstone and central Idaho in Idaho under the ESA in 1995-1996, after considering 160,000 comments from 50 states and 40 countries. Intensive studies of the Yellowstone wolves for 25 years have yielded a quantum leap forward in our understanding of how wolves live. Read Yellowstone Science Vol. 24 No. 1, available at www.nps.gov/yellowstonescience. For more depth, get Mech, Smith, and MacNulty. 2015. Wolves on the Hunt. Go deeper by reading Smith Stahler and MacNulty. 2020. Yellowstone Wolves. Finally, “You don’t shoot your ally.” Wolves, with a thousand times the olfactory capacity of humans, can detect and kill deer and elk infected with chronic wasting disease, which is menacing all members of the deer family, and could end hunting for all of us. Wolves do that for free, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
5 years ago
Suits filed against western Wyoming elk winter feedgroundsOh, yes. Research on CWD is under way in Yellowstone National Park by the USGS and NPS.
5 years ago
Suits filed against western Wyoming elk winter feedgroundsBruce L. Smith, PhD, USFWS, was the National Elk Refuge biologist. He wrote WHERE ELK ROAM: Conservation and Biopolitics of Our National Elk Herd in 2012. If you want to get the facts, they are there.
On CWD and the refuge,, Todd Wilkinson has written a series of four articles about them available here.
https://mountainjournal.org/experts-demand-call-to-action-in-fighting-chronic-wasting-disease. Bag barstool biology. Read.