by Brad Davis, Hamilton
I would like to respond to comments made in the article “Protecting and defending the wolves.” Marc states that he, being Democrat, is in favor of pro-science when it comes to wolves. The thing is, he is far from pro-science. In his opinion all wolves should live but science says otherwise. There must be controls on the population; something he is against. Imagine if you did not have your cats or dogs spayed or neutered. A female wolf can average four to six pups per year reaching extremes up to 11. The federal government has delisted the wolves in certain states because of overpopulation. They must be controlled. The only way to do that is through hunting and trapping. This is done by the states who manage wolves that enter their state. A good case point is the bison herd in Yellowstone. The herd grew so large that it affected the habitat and there was no management. Thus the states stepped in to help manage bison. Under federal law you cannot hunt in a national park.
Just because the hunters and trappers did not meet the quota for one season has nothing to do with overharvesting. It is just a talking point that Marc developed with no long term evidence. The same statement that wolves bring in $82 million each year to gateway communities simply is not true. There are no hard facts to back up this statement. It’s just a statement by the Yellowstone Coalition to benefit their talking point.
A side note is that anti-trapping/hunting groups like Wolves of the Rockies are being allowed and taking advantage of the use of the public library paid by taxpayer dollars to promote their agenda. It’s wrong and should not be allowed.