Hunting Wolves
Wolves in parts of the Northern Rockies and the Great Lakes region have come off the endangered species list and that opens the way for wolf hunting to begin in some states this fall. This is a hot potato for sure between environmental groups, hunters and of course livestock producers. Tell the guy in Oregon that recently lost over 20 sheep to wolves that wolves are good. A lot of hunters claim that elk and deer populations are down due to wolf predation. But Ed Bangs, a Fish and Game expert out of Montana says that’s just an excuse for when a hunter doesn’t come home with a trophy bull or buck. The Western Wolf Coalition, comprised of seventeen conservation and wildlife organizations, launched a website dedicated to providing science-based information and resources on wolves. Coordinator Anne Carlson isn’t opposed to hunting wolves. She’s opposed to the proposed management plan. “Last year they proposed to kill half of the wolves in the state during the first hunting season the wolves were off the list. That doesn’t really make much sense. As a biologist I don’t think that’s sustainable at all. If you changed the nouns in that sentence and used any other species, I think people would be aghast. For example, if you said we propose to kill half the bull trout or half the elk in Idaho this year in our hunting season, people would think that was madness. If it’s not OK for one species, it’s not OK for another. In general, that’s our position.”
