New Revelations about Reintroduced Wolves

Republished with permission by George Dovel, author.

In the early 1980s the 197-page unpublished research report, “Wolves of Central Idaho,” surfaced. In it, co-authors Timm Kaminski and Jerome Hansen estimated that elk and deer populations in six of the nine national forests in the proposed Central Idaho Wolf Recovery Area could support a total of 219 wolves without decreasing existing deer and elk populations in those forests.

They based this on an estimated 16.6 deer or elk killed by each wolf annually, and on estimated increases in elk and/or deer populations from 1981-1985 in the two-thirds of forests where they had increased.

But even if their estimated prey numbers and calculations were accurate, their report said only 17 wolves could be maintained in the Salmon National Forest, five in the Challis NF, and none in the Panhandle, Sawtooth and Bitterroot Forests. Yet the obvious question of what to do when the number of wolves in any National Forest or game management unit exceeded the ability of the prey base to support them was not adequately addressed. Read more

Marshall Sage: Government Control by “Eliminating The Sovereignty Of The States”

The following is a guest article. I asked Marshall Sage for permission to publish his response to a discussion on state sovereignty and the decimation of the United States Constitution by progressives.

Marshall Sage is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who has enjoyed the freedom to hunt and fish throughout much of the free world. Most recently radio host for “Outdoor Life” a hunting and fishing program in Southwestern Idaho. A life member of SCI and the NRA. Contact at msage22@gmail.com.

Our founding fathers gave our nation a blueprint on how to avoid a centralized, authoritarian government from taking away our individual freedoms (endowed by our Creator) and rights (Bill of Rights). This blueprint was our Constitution. It’s no accident that in less than 200 years of following this blueprint the United States of America became the most prosperous and industrious nation on earth. Read more

When You Disagree With Wildlilfe Management, Call It “Flawed Science”

Words are easy to put together that can make something sound wonderful. Words are incredibly powerful and smart people can use them to alter facts and completely change perceptions and reality. They can just as easily be used to present the truth. It is then left up to the individual to learn and decide for themselves.

Jeremy Hance provides commentary on the “flaws in science” of wolf management on a website called Mongabay.com. I’m not going to spend my time attempting to debunk the commentary but I will say that it contains mostly all the same rhetoric we hear day in and day out about how the top wolf scientists in the world don’t know what they are doing. He presents incomplete information leading readers to believe things that aren’t quite true. But what I find interesting is his interest in convincing readers that science pertaining to wolves should involve non-scientific theories of fantasy about how ignorant man has no understanding of nature and all we ever do is destroy it. Read more

Panel Discussions On Wolves A True Reflection

I was just reading an article in the KPVI.com website in regards to a panel discussion that was held at the Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho on wolves. We know debates about wolves become emotional and passionate and as you have come to expect, I’ll add flame to that fire this morning.

Those in attendance? Read more

The List Grows To Sue U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Over Wolves

Not what most have come to expect when talking of lawsuits brought against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pertaining to endangered species, some are suing because they have been left out of delisting. While there is a list of eco-fascist groups suing to stop the feds from removing the gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act protection list, this time around a group is suing the feds because Wyoming was excluded from states where wolves should be delisted.

Among others, agencies that have joined a lawsuit include the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Wyoming Wool Growers Association, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife Wyoming, Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, and the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association. Read more

Idaho Public Television “Dialogue” – Wolf Delisting

Web Extra

More Idahoans Demanding Something Be Done About Wolf Management

From reports I’ve gotten about a recent meeting in Hailey, Idaho about wolves, perhaps the tide is beginning to turn in favor of once and for all forcing the hand of the federal government to let the people of that state and others take care of the gray wolves the feds dumped in their back yards over 14 years ago.

I wasn’t at that meeting but one report I have says as many as 350 were in attendance and the estimate was that 99.9% were there hoping to see wolves managed properly by the state before more damage is done by expanding wolf packs. Read more

Idaho Fish And Game Selling It’s Wolf Management Skills

Wolf Wars Appear Eminent

Speaking of gray wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming only, it now appears that wolf wars may be on the horizon. Sportsmen, ranchers, individuals, legislators and other rational thinking people are coming to the end of their ropes on this wolf issue. One item may have temporarily stemmed the tide – Obama’s announcement to proceed with removing federal protection of the wolf. How long will this put off the inevitable?

This means very little to most in the Northern Rockies who have been lied to in the past, promises made and promises reneged on. And now in some areas, sportsmen sit helplessly by as years of money and effort are being flushed down the drain as an unmanaged and out of control wolf pack destroys deer and elk herds. Read more

New Wolf Control Facts

Note: The following article was originally printed in The Outdoorsman No. 33, February 2009 by the publisher, George Dovel. With his permission, I am republishing for Black Bear Blog readers.

Before I present the current Idaho wolf population data, the following highlights from the Alaska Board of Game wolf and bear control program approved in early March 2009 are very interesting. Because Alaska DFG Biologists are the undisputed experts in North American wolf research and in state control of wolves adversely impacting big game populations, this information should be read and discussed by every legislator and biologist involved in the wolf delisting process.

In early February, 2009, before the AK Game Board even met to consider requests for wolf control, Defenders of Wildlife (DOW) mounted a television campaign in opposition to aerial wolf control, using Hollywood actress Ashley Judd as its spokesperson. Judd called aerial killing of wolves “senseless savagery,” and attacked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for approving the practice (ID and MT take note). Read more

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