A Breath of Hope

A great article in American Cowboy called “Wolves at the Door” (December/January 2010) delivered a breath of hope for the fate of the North American gray wolf. The article provides a sampling of confrontations between the “family ranch culture” and environmental groups. Unfortunately, efforts to reintroduce the Mexican gray wolf in southwestern New Mexico and western Arizona has reached an impasse between The Center for Biological Diversity (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/) and Americans for preservation of Western Environment (http://www.amprowest.org/news.htm). These two groups could learn something about cooperation by reading Lauren M. Whaley’s article.

Save a Tree; Hug a Grizzly

I have taken a good look at the dilemma discussed in the previous post and find little merit in the motives either side. I am careful here to use the word “motive” rather than the word “reasoning.”

The propaganda being dealt by both sides is meant to be perceived as reasoning in order to achieve Public support. The ploy being exhibited here is similar to a speech by a politician. They say what ever they need to say to get the power/money they need to implement their own agenda.

The conservation groups have spent over $300,000.00 per wolf and are happy to report that, due to number of cattle that have been killed, it appears that government officials will allow the wolves to survive until November 1, 2009. Their delight in this report leads me to believe that these people are actually dedicated to helping the rest of the people in the world learn to think like themselves. The wolf is just a pawn in their political game.

Another conclusion I have arrived at is that the people who are screaming about the hazards of being in the same county with a Mexican wolf are also playing a game. Their goal is to discourage visitors, especially their liberal opponents, from venturing into wolf country because it is also their country. The people who live in these remote areas aren’t especially sociable and care little about political correctness. As a matter of fact they live in these areas to avoid a lot of people in general.

My answer to both sides is fairly simple. The Mexican gray wolf and the grizzly bear were extirpated from the Gila at about the same time for the same reasons. So, the only fair thing to do is to reintroduce the grizzlies as well. If the conservationists sincerely want to restore nature and retard civilization then maybe they would like to hug some smelly, ill mannered bears instead of trees. By the same token, the people of Catron County wouldn’t have to worry about the wolves bothering their kids and pets because the bears would eat the wolves and anything else that bothered them.

What do you think?

PLEASE CLICK ON OLDER POSTS BELOW FOR MORE STORIES.

Who's Crying Wolf ?

In 1915 one of the pioneers of conservation, Aldo Leopold, delved into what he thought of as “game management.” One of his main conclusions was that wolves, mountain lions, and any other predator that fed on deer should be exterminated in order to save the deer population for sport hunting. He later admitted that the premise was wrong and began to correct the error.

Instead of increasing the deer population, the elimination of animals that killed and ate the deer allowed the number of deer to increase so drastically that there was not enough forest to feed them all. The deer then started dying of starvation and disease.

In 1929 the federal government built the 60 mile long North Star Road. This road allowed hunters to access the starving deer herd so it could be thinned. The North Star Road is now the boundary between the Aldo Leopold and Gila wilderness areas.

In 1976 the Mexican gray wolf was placed on the Endangered Species List and reintroduced to South Western New Mexico. Today the wolf population is on the increase but the merit of this development is being disputed publicly.

The State of New Mexico, the federal government, and various environmentalist groups are on one side of the fence wanting to protect the wolves. On the other side of the fence stand the ranchers and residents that live where the wolves are.

Saturday morning I met a lady in Silver City who was handing out literature (see: http://www.amprowest.org/) that warned of dangerously bold wolves. When I asked her if the ranchers were compensated by environmentalist groups when a wolf killed any livestock she loudly replied, “We are concerned about the safety of our children and our pets. We’ve had to build shelters from plywood and chicken wire to protect the kids at the bus stops in Reserve. There have been too many close calls.”

Another group has put up billboards warning of the danger for pets, elk, and children. These signs have graphic illustrations of what they claim are victims of the wolves.

On the other hand, the forest service has posted signs urging citizens to report any injury or killings of wolves. The New Mexico State Hunting Proclamation states that anyone convicted of killing a wolf will face one year in prison and fines of up to $50,000.00.

None of the anti-wolf propaganda encourages the killing of wolves but leads one to feel that it may be warranted.

Maybe the wolves should stay in designated lest they be shot or trapped. Maybe the people should move to a big city like Albuquerque. I am trying to stay objective on this issue. Please post your comments.