1-17 IAN Cry Wolf
Every day, it seems, the newspapers have banner headlines. “Groups sue to halt the killing of wolves” , “Wildlife services sending in professional hunter to take out two packs of wolves.” Talk about wolves in this or any state and we are embedded in drama. On one side of the issue, the so-called environmental side, Defenders of Wildlife, Western Watershed Project, Wilderness Watch and on the other end we have sheep ranchers, beef ranchers, hunters and sportsmen’s groups all weighing in on the devastation that wolves can produce on other animals. I thought that I would touch base with a straight talking, good guy in Stan Boyd with the Idaho Wool growers Association. “Stan, I have talked to Idaho Cattle Association, the Governor, Fish and Wildlife Services, Fish and Game and we all agree that we need to manage our wolf populations, how do you stand on the issue? We are very supportive of the governor’s proposal and we along with Idaho Cattle Association and the cattle industry have agreed to raise the assessment from the livestock industry, cattle and sheep, to come up with $110,000 annually and the sportsmen have agreed to match that, so we look forward to a strong working relationship with everybody involved in this process to help manage these wolf populations.
