Environment
Wolf Economics Take Two
February 7, 2007 
Over a year ago the GUARDIAN posted a satirical story about selling WOLF HUNTING. permits to raise cash to manage elk herds the wolves were managing naturally.
It was a silly story, but not as silly as proposals coming from government today!
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Comments & Discussion
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© 2007 Boise Guardian. 
Feb 8, 2007, 4:39 pm
Wolves do much more for the eco-system than manage the elk populations. They also control rodent populations as well as keep elk and deer from over-grazing critical stream vegetation and streamside trees. Scientists are saying that we are only begining to learn how the return of the wolf is restoring some balance to the eco-system.
Statistics show that hunting is an activity that is slowly on the decline, and it is becoming more and more difficult to control populations through hunting tags. If hunters today are having a hard time finding elk it is not because of a declining elk populations but rather those elk populations adapting to having the wolf back in their environment. Elk are simply not congregating in the open anymore. If you are a hunter and are worried about elk populations and habitat then you really should be focusing your attention on development and road building in the habitat which are much more harmful than wolves.
Feb 8, 2007, 5:10 pm
Why do these macho guys want to KILL, to blow to smitheren’s, mother natures most beautiful creations? There’s some scary psychology here that bothers me, ” the big ,bad wolf syndrome,” and with a Dr. Lector tinge ( or is it Dr. Strangelove?) I guess I just don’t have a need to kill things, I have found natures beauty far greater than anything man has created and I believe were we to learn from nature rather than try to KILL it we would’nt be trying to kill ourselves with suicidal weapons.
Feb 9, 2007, 9:44 am
Since when was hunting a “macho guy” thing? Joe if this macho guy thing never existed, that would mean naïve people like you would have never been born because your ancestors would have gone hungry.
Next let’s look at the wolf that was introduced into Idaho. I am sure it was the native wolf, right? No, it was the Canadian Grey Wolf. This wolf is twice the size of the native wolf and actually is a threat to the Idaho Wolf. Seems strange we introduced a wolf that is competition and will eventually kill of the native wolf. There was a reason that in the 30’s the government spent millions of dollars eliminating the wolf.
Now they are spending millions of dollars bringing it back because of the not so macho guy like Joe wants to look at nature. Would we all be up in arms if the government introduced tigers or lions into the wild? They have as much place in Idaho as the Canadian Grey Wolf.
I also have a problem with your statement about killing Joe. Have you ever seen what a Grey Wolf can do to a herd of elk or cattle? The Grey Wolf does not just kill for food like a bear or mountain lion, no, instead they kill for fun. They do not eat the majority of what they kill. Maybe if you have seen a herd of cattle butchered by wolves you would think differently about your little perception of nature’s beauty.
They are not proposing to eliminate what should be eliminated. Instead they are proposing to create an open season for them just as there are for many animals in Idaho. It will be a controlled thing, just like the reintroduction of the Canadian Grey. Hopefully they can manage the controlled hunt better than the Indians have mishandled the reintroduction of “nature’s beauty.”
Feb 9, 2007, 3:12 pm
Hey RiverCity and Joe Moran,
Talk is cheap. Put your money where your mouth is and do what needs to be done to adopt a grey wolf or two to keep inside your house.
I bet Dave won’t post this.
Feb 9, 2007, 4:22 pm
Snoop, you are spreading just as much misinformation and ignorance on this topic as anyone. If you really want to learn the truth about the wolf populations in Idaho then I suggest you visit the following web site:
http://www.wolfcenter.org/
Feb 9, 2007, 4:46 pm
Here is yet another good link that will dispell many of the myths that the anti-wolf groups have been spreading: http://www.idahowolves.org/
The argument that “these wolves are Canadian and not native” is especially entertaining considering the “native wolf” was exterminated by humans and there are only two genetic variations of wolves found in the region. The Canadian wolf is an identical match to what originally roamed our landscapes.
Feb 10, 2007, 7:50 am
Jack, I miss whatever point it is that you are attempting to make, please expand.
Mar 13, 2008, 9:00 am
RiverCity said: “The argument that “these wolves are Canadian and not native” is especially entertaining considering the “native wolf” was exterminated by humans and there are only two genetic variations of wolves found in the region.”
This is not true. I grew up on the edge of the wilderness in Idaho. I spent many nights via horseback all over the wilderness. The father of one of my best friends growing up had a professional outfitters business. Whenever a cougar or bear came in and attacked a human, Fish and Game called him to go hunt it down and kill it. He took photographs of the native wolf and sent them to the Fish and Game back in the 1970’s. Nothing happened, the photos were somehow lost, and no one knew anything. Its true the government refused to recognize that the Idaho Native Wolf still existed, but it sure did. I’ve seen it three times in my life and one of those times was in the foothills out behind Micron in Boise – years before wolf “reintroduction”.
You sir are being led around by the nose by coffee-cup environmentalists, who put on a good show, mean well, and yet have no idea what they are talking about. While you’re being entertained, we truly are loosing the native species all in the name of saving it.