In response to the article on page A9 of the CDA Press on January 12th, talking about the plan to start hunting wolves here in Idaho in a few weeks; (just as soon as they are off the endangered species list.) Our new Governor, Butch Otter said at a recent rally "I'm prepared to bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself."
How embarrassing for Idaho!!! Do we really want our state to be seen as barbaric and possibly even ignorant? When instead, we could improve our image by being a forward thinking leader in natural wildlife conservation, based on sound, logical research?
Every study I have ever read about, regarding wolves relationship with elk, concluded that wolves do NOT decimate the elk population. It may seem so, when they are introduced to an area, because the elk become more wary and make themselves more scarce, so they are seen less. If you want elk to be easy to find, go to an elk ranch and shoot one in their corral. Its called "hunting" for a reason, right? Its very common knowledge (I thought) that prey animals improve genetically when they have their natural predators around.
Wolves BELONG in our ecosystem. God put them there. When they are missing, the whole ecological system becomes unbalanced and unhealthy. Lets keep our wild areas TRULY WILD. Not overly managed and artificially "stocked" for out of state hunters. Wolves running free in our wilderness is something to be proud of!
I am stunned that after all the work that was done to reintroduce wolves to the wild in the United States in the last fifteen years, in order to right our previous wrong of hunting them to extinction, people have already forgotten and want to hunt them down to the bare minimum again the minute they are delisted!!
I have read several books on wolves in the past fifteen years, plus I was blessed to have shared my life with two wolf dogs in the past, so i know well what they are like. They are not some evil, scary monster to be feared. They shy away from people in the wild and do not stalk and attack people like a cougar, for example, sometimes will.
A wolf has the same heart and capacity to feel as your own dog, whether its a Chihuahua, a Labrador, or a Heeler. Wolves are our own man's best friend's representative in the wild. They don't deserve to be sadistically run down, killed, and butchered for no reason.
Ann Sydow / Athol, Idaho | 
