Here’s a letter to a local Washington state newspaper from a budding anti-wolf extremist, followed by my response letter…
“Damage wolves do”
Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to Lorna Smith’s column (April 3), “Why are we so afraid of wolves?”
It’s not the wolf itself, it’s the killing they do to our deer and livestock that I’m afraid about.
I have a friend who lives in Arlie, Mont., where the wolves are abundant. He states that the wolves have completely destroyed the elk herds in his area – and are now preying on the deer.
He also states that the economy has really suffered in the area as the sportsmen are not coming to hunt anymore.
Also, there was an article in the April 2013 Western Horseman magazine. One of the featured articles was “Range Riders of the Upper Green.” The story is of Doc Foster – his main job was caring for the cattle. He states that dealing with the predator-livestock conflict took most of his time – that the wolves attack the cattle herd in a pack and focus on dragging the cattle down by the back and hindquarters. “They are killers,” Foster says. “They [wolves] eat the heart, liver and lungs and then go on.”
Is the wolf an animal we want protected in our area?
Seems like several new wolf pairs have just “arrived” in Washington state lately.
Betty Wagoner
And my response?…
Dear Editor,
It’s bad enough to read a damaging letter from an anti-wolf extremist (“Damage wolves do”) who asks, “Is the wolf an animal we want protected in our area?” as if it’s our birthright to pick and choose which species are welcome and which are not. But when the main thrust of the letter seems to be to spread disinformation—aimed at striking terror in the hearts of hunters—that “wolves have completely destroyed the elk herds” in Montana, well, someone has to set the record straight.
Having recently lived in Montana, I’ve seen and photographed my share of wolves, but also thousands of elk; and some of the mule deer herds were nearly a hundred strong in places. According to a 2012 Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department survey, there are 141,078 elk in the state, 55% over their management “objective” of 90,910; but rather than allowing wolves to solve their elk “problem,” they want to reduce the number of both elk and wolves. That policy is not scientific; it’s downright kill-happy.
Meanwhile, there are currently fewer than 600 wolves in that state (hunters and trappers killed nearly 200 last season). Yet Montana wildlife officials say they are hoping to reduce the wolf population to around 450. Of course, that number does not even come close to representing a recovered state wolf population by any historical standards when you consider that 10,261 wolves were destroyed between 1884 and 1886 in Montana alone after a bounty was first initiated there—or that 380,000 wolves once roamed the lower 48.
An alleged threat to the cattle industry is certainly no excuse for today’s rampant killing of these important predators. Out of the approximately 2.6 million cattle in the state, only 74, or .0003%, were taken by wolves in 2011.
But if there has been any drop in business for the trophy elk hunting industry, it’s because wolves keep elk on the move; wilder and less complacent. In one of their most telling remarks, Montana hunters have complained that wolves make elk “too hard to hunt.” Ever their lackeys, state game managers have used that claim as an excuse to promote wolf hunting, rather than sticking up for wolves by pointing out that they are just doing their job of preventing elk from over-grazing.
So next time you hear hunters complaining about wolves, remember, it’s not because they really think wolves are going to eliminate all “their” elk—they just don’t want to have to walk too far from the pickup truck to make their kill.
Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2013. All Rights Reserved
Exposing the Big Game 
amazing Jim. I am thankful every day for your intelligent, articulate posts that keep the lies from becoming truth because no one challenges them. Excellent!
WHAT A PILE OF CRAP FROM THESE ASSHOLES–I am beyond sick of their lying and fear mongering!! THEY ARE NOT GOING TO GO UNNOTICED OR ALLOWED TO RUN FREE WIRH THIS CRAP–WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH AND WE RUN WAY STRONGER THAN ASSHOLE MORONIC DEVIANTS!!
Effing bunch of miscreant deviants–and everyone knows it except for these creeps’ neighbors. Their days are numbered because they are so disgusting and such scum of the planet
Thanks Louise, I’m whittling this down and sending it on to the paper today.
You’d have to have a really low IQ to think that removing the natural predators from an ecosystem would be a good idea, and then be even significantly dumber than that to think that killing both remaining predators and burgeoning prey population simultaneously will solve the problem. Why is so much of humanity stuck on stupid?
That’s the question.
Thank you for doing that. I don’t even take the paper anymore, is it effective to write letters to the editor? Someone from Conservation Northwest told me that wolf supporters should fund-raise to help ranchers with the cost of non-lethal deterrents–what do you think of that idea?
I think that’s a good project for Conservation Northwest. Unfortunately, the real extremists won’t willingly change or even accept compensation.
The USFWS is proposing delisting the wolf in the lower 48 and turning the management over to states and the ruling elements within those states that have been traditionally wolf haters and wanted to marginalize them or even wipe them out. This agency is so full of lies, myths and folklore that the stupidity of it is astounding! It repeats the myths of attacks on game herds, elk, which have actually increased in numbers prolifically since wolf recovery and it repeats the myth of attack on cattle (less than .0026 %). This agency reflects policies that could have been written by the stockmen’s association of any western state or any sportsmen (hunter) group of any western state or any group of wolf hating, misinformed, lie, myth and folklore spreading group of bloggers seen on most discussion sites. This agency shows extreme prejudicial leanings, which totally has bought into rancher-sportsmen-yokel anti-wolf bias. It is a shameful perpetuation of decades old, since the inception of wildlife agencies, anti-predator bias and the alliance of USFWS and other wildlife agencies with anti-predator elements and traditions of this country and the march of civilization. The wildlife agencies have been party to and heavily involved in the upset of natural ecological systems by participating in the mass killings of wildlife, especially the predators. The USFWS has to be sued to do its’ job of protecting the totality of ecological systems. This agency and other wildlife agencies, like the USDA Wildlife Services should be fired top down.
The IQ component came to my mind first and then I thought no, it’s just ignorance! These anti wolf people need to be educated about the ecosystem and the complex systems, yet very simple to understand dynamics such as the trophic cascade and carrying capacity of the land. We need to educate about the family aspect of the wolf and the mating pairs and the immense good the wolf do for the earth and the ungulate population. This letter was full of the words that get the antis all worked up and we have no idea if the writer was even speaking the truth, wolves hardly have the time to just eat the heart and liver when they are feeding their young and taking care of their family. This simply is not an entitled ‘disneyland elkville’, this is a living breathing planet that has all the players in place to keep our earth sustainable and healthy. Let’s start teaching those who have not yet been indoctrinated into the anti camp the connection between healthy ecosystems and a healthy community with a derespect for nature and all living beings that God supplied to tend the planet Earth!
“…respect for nature…” is exactly what Fish and Wildlife (or Fish and Game, in Idaho and Wyoming) agencies in states with wolf populations lack. They are owned by the livestock and hunting interests, as is the Federal Fish and Wildlife agency. Public sentiment, or factual information, or SCIENCE is not having any influence on most decisions affecting wolves these days.
Yes !Respect for nature and an understanding of our actions and taking responsibility for those actions needs to be the mantra ! Fish and Wildlife or unfortunately pres Obama has no idea what that apparently means, but we can save the wolves .. Like we did the whales! That took demonstartions, rallies, tv programs t shirts and lots of discussion in the media! Lets get Together on this and get that
Educational component going … The American public needs to know what marvelous beings our wolves are and how they are true caretakers of the planet! We must not let them die and be denied their right to a peaceful existence.. They are us, we are them!
Howl louder and stop this violence against our wildlife … NOW!
Yes, you would think that with so much wolf killing going on just an hour’s drive away from here, animal lovers and outdoor recreationists wouldn’t be completely in the dark, but so many are. Thank you for the infusion of positive energy
Jim, I think it’s time post about John Muir. You had avery good quote from him.
Thanks for the idea Dywane, I quote him several times in my book.
Thanks for the wonderful comments!
Unfortunately, ignorant hatred of wolves, coyotes and other so-called “predators” will probably not go away anytime soon–unless humans just die off! Then, the Earth will finally be at Peace.
Long-entrenched “hatred” towards wolves, coyotes and other wild animals people don’t bother to learn about or understand, is a reaction by those who feel some deep fear/dislike, or even jealousy about those beings –they will not ever be able to understand– no matter what education about wolves/coyotes is given. It often is a learned, cultural ignorance usually very long established, often “taught, & reinforced” over time. It really is akin to hatred, prejudice by folks who hanged blacks, burned their churches/homes in The South, because they were black–or perhaps brown–
Isn’t it a shame that in many ways we have come so far, and yet some humans remain full of hatred, prejudice towards other beings, skin colors, languages, etc. I often say to people that “I have never met a coyote or other wild creature I did not like–wish I could say the same of some humans I have met.”