There is a nameless war going on in America. Distracted by
more pressing economic issues, it has gone relatively unnoticed by the nation
even though it is a movement motivated by politics and economics. Unfortunately
the victims of this assault are completely out numbered, unarmed and utterly
helpless to save themselves. A very
calculated campaign designed to create hysteria has been heavily funded and
very successful so far in motivating and enlisting state and federal governments to help create policy to annihilate a very small
misunderstood population.
“By any means necessary” is their battle call…methods
outlawed by most nations worldwide is fair game and legal to use here, just for
this particular foe. I am talking about wolves.
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In 1995-96 the Clinton administration helped fund the
re-introduction of wolves into a then failing Yellowstone National Park.
Conservationists estimated that the 66 wolves would grow and migrate to
territories outside the park boundary one day to help heal the environments
suffering from their absence for nearly a century from a deliberate attempt to
cause their extinction. However, they
lacked the foresight to legally address the unreasonable opposition to the
re-introduction in the first place by the states surrounding Yellowstone.
Without sound science, these states and their
representatives have successfully interfered with the Endagered Species Act,
rendering it useless if you have enough political clout. In 2009 wolves lost
their federal protections in Idaho and Montana who enacted the first wolf
hunting seasons. Deemed by a federal
judge to be counter to the standards set by the Endangered Species Act, they
won back their protections temporarily. Through a very cunning and
unprecedented legislative maneuver, they lost their protections…forever.
Language in the legislation says that it cannot be revisited and or be subject
to judicial review. Although it sounds unconstitutional, it was declared to be
by the 9th district court this past year.
As a result, wolves lost their protections in Oregon,
Washington, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming is working on it. In fact, there
has not even been a sighting in Utah; they just suspect it is coming. This made
way for Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin to gain State rights to “manage”
wolves too. As a result, hunting season for 2011 in Idaho and Montana kept
extending into 2012 month after month, into breeding season and beyond with
pups and collared wolves as fair game. Idaho especially had a quota to reach
and yet they did not get close to the number of kills desired.
Neither state reached the number of kills they wanted for
many reasons perhaps. They are nocturnal
and have an outstanding sense of hearing and smell which makes it easy for them
to hide from the hunters. This upcoming
season they have passed legislation to allow the use of traps. Idaho tried to
pass a law that would allow using live bait…dogs and cats from shelters.
Wisconsin has approved the use of trained hunting dogs…most of which are killed
by the wolves before the hunters catch up to kill the wolf. These practices
have not been used or allowed for nearly a century because they are considered
inhumane.
We are talking about less than 4,000 wolves in a 9 state
area. It is mathematically impossible for wolves to be wrecking havoc to a
degree that warrants such abhorrent behavior against them. For perspective, we
have 5,000 coyotes in Los Angeles County alone. There are at least 200 just
within a mile of our property which is the number of wolves in the entire state
of Wyoming. Yet when presenting my case to their state legislature, challenging
the scientific evidence they say they are basing their policy on, I was called
an Environmental Jihadist. I have the emails documented as proof.
All politics aside,
allowing the trapping of wild animals again is beneath our dignity and as stewards
of the earth, we need to shout from the mountain tops that this practice is
wrong and should be stopped. The public however does not know, and those who do
are not being heard. Here is a link to an article that was beautifully written
in The Missoulan, a newspaper in Montana.
We educate, that is our mission. Our intention is to promote
ecotourism which is a billion dollar industry and that is our secret weapon
against this war. We believe that when the citizens of these states understand
that “wolves are good for business”, they will vote accordingly for their own
economic benefit. In 2010, we estimate that Yellowstone National Park generated
$1,382,400,000.00 based on these statistics:
Nearly 1 million visitors came to the park. Most visitors spend 3.2 days
in the park and spent approximately $108.00 per day on food, lodging, gifts,
souvenirs and the like. The park admits that 40% of those visitors came to see
wolves.
We have sent an email to Lisa Ling at the Oprah Winfrey Network asking for them to give this issue National exposure. This attention by OWN would lead to even
more good news for the wolves in the wild.
An expose, promoting peace, prosperity and ethics is what we wrote to ask them to consider. If you have a moment and would like to write to OWN urging them to take action, we think it would be very effective.
Trapping wild animals is outrageous, cruel and sets humanity back a century. Please help save the wild ones.
