Time to delist the wolves, breathe deeply and relax
Jim Fisher
March 2, 2008
Lewiston Morning Tribune
I not only hope the federal government's plan to remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act succeeds, to the embarrassment of the anti-wolf fanatics who said it would never happen. But I hope Idaho Gov. Butch Otter gets one of the first permits to hunt for them, as he told a crowd on the Statehouse steps last year he wanted to do.
I figure that would prove an embarrassment to him as well, not because he would be a hunter but because I bet he would be an unsuccessful one. I bet most other people who went out looking to shoot a wolf would be too.
I'm not a hunter, but I spend enough time tramping around in the Idaho woods to have an idea of which animals are easy to find and kill there and which ones aren't. I would put deer, elk and moose near the easy end of the spectrum, and wolves near the other.
My suspicion is seconded by Otter's immediate predecessor in the governor's office. Unlike me, Jim Risch has experience hunting for wolves, in Alaska, and he tells me that experience shows him the number of wolves in Idaho is not going to be reduced much by hunting.
That's why I think Defenders of Wildlife and other animal-hugging organizations are embarrassing themselves by charging that delisting wolves will lead to a drastic reduction in their population. Hunting isn't going to do that. Neither is the shooting of wolves threatening livestock or personal pets. And other, more effective means, face their own problems.
One is the M-44, a poison-delivery device made in Pocatello by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As two all-terrain vehicle riders learned in 2003, M-44s are horrendous accidents waiting to happen.
Dennis Slaugh and his brother were riding in Utah's Cowboy Canyon when they noticed what appeared to be a survey stake, Associated Press writer Matthew Daly reports. When Slaugh touched the stake, it exploded, spraying sodium cyanide in his face and chest.
He has suffered greatly from the poison to this day.
"He has difficulty breathing, vomits almost daily and can no longer work driving heavy equipment because he is too weak," Daly writes.
Slaugh's misfortune has not stopped the use of M-44s and another poison, sodium fluoroacetate, commonly called Compound 1080. But the Environmental Protection Agency is investigating complaints from him and others about the poisons' use.
And Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., has all the information he needs. He is sponsoring legislation in Congress to outlaw both.
"Compound 1080 and M-44 sodium cyanide capsules are lethal, dangerous and unnecessary poisons," DeFazio says. "They pose a very serious threat to our nation's citizens, wildlife and domesticated animals."
Adding that there is no known antidote to either, DeFazio says both "super poisons" could even be used by terrorists.
Whatever happens to DeFazio's bill, use of either the M-44 or Compound 1080 in wild lands, as opposed to private ranches or grazing allotments, is a much better target for Defenders of Wildlife and other animal advocates than wolf delisting. And it is one I would be eager to join them in going after.
I fear that Defenders and other groups that have given notice they intend to sue to stop the delisting are doing what we see all too often from the National Rifle Association and other extremist groups: opposing reasonable moves because more outlandish ones might follow. That might be good for whipping up the membership and raising cash - at which the NRA is a proven champ - but it is poor at building credibility with the population at large.
The wolf issue has already engendered more than enough hysteria in Idaho.
It began with legislators who refused to let the state's Fish and Game Department have anything to do with reintroduction of what had been indigenous predators, a job that was then handed over to the Nez Perce Tribe.
It continued with Stanley activist Ron Gillett's futile petition crusade to drive the wolves back out, and with Otter's fiery words at the Capitol to a group that claims to know more about wildlife management than highly trained biologists.
What the issue most needs now is calm, and observation. We should let the delisting process proceed, let ranchers protect their livestock and let hunters try their skill and their luck if they choose.
I suspect we will find that humans and wolves can coexist, just as humans and all manner of other species coexist, with the help of patience and professional guidance from professional wildlife managers. And the ranks of those managers do not include Butch Otter, Ron Gillett or me.
Originally posted at http://www.lmtribune.com/story/opinion/15626/
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