The Yellowstone Wolves

I love the Internet I can live in the most remote part of Alaska and read news papers from almost any where in the world. Yesterday I was reading an article from the Washington Post on the Yellowstone elk herd and it decline over the past few years. Yellowstone elk aren’t really an Alaska issue however one of the root causes are out of control wolf packs in the park and adjoining areas. I can sympathize with the local hunters because I live in an area of Alaska where the wolves and bears have destroyed the moose population. For the first 12 years I lived here I couldn’t hunt moose in my own backyard. Through an aggressive predator control program by the state has reduced the wolf numbers and a sport season has been reestablished the local moose population is still in the pits.

From the Post article:

Jan. 12, 2011

“As recently as 1994, the northern Yellowstone elk herd was the largest in North America with almost 20,000 animals that migrated between the park and parts of southern Montana.

But those numbers have plummeted sharply since wolves were reintroduced 15 years ago, adding to threats that already included mountain lions and grizzly bears.”

You have to wonder what USFW was thinking when the brought wolves back to the lower 48 states. The wolves used to start the packs were not even the same ones that were here originally nor do the have the prey population that of one hundred odd years back. The wolves brought in came from Canada and are a much larger and more aggressive strain. The Canadian wolves lived for centuries surviving in some of the harshest conditions the north had to offer. Down south they prey on herds of ungulates that have never been hunted by wolves. The southern elk and deer were totally clueless about Canadian wolves. They didn’t know how to avoid or evade them so the wolves have flourished on the easy pickings, that does not even take into account the cattle and sheep the wolves take. Wolves are killing machines they do not discriminate, food is food, whether it is an elk or some ranchers sheep. To many uninformed “experts” preach how predators take only the weak and sick. Bull. A wolf doesn’t care about the health of its food they are opportunist they will take what is available. Not only will they take what they need they will kill simply to teach their young to hunt whether they need it or not.  I have watched wolves run caribou in relays crippling several then eating a few leaving the rest to die a slow death to be picked apart by fox and ravens.

Elk and deer and moose feed people not wolves when are wildlife managers going to get it. It’s all well and good if someone wants to sit in a tour bus and take pictures of a couple of wolves, but consumptive users needs have to come first. For all the hype about sport hunting I will bet you will be hard pressed finding one sport hunter who does not eat the moose or elk he kills. If the truth be known the majority of hunters the hunt and meat come before the trophy.

Organizations like Defenders of Wildlife have lots of money and political clout and they have learned how to use it. I we are going to pass our hunting heritage on to the next generation we are going to have to learn from the enemy. Not all states wildlife managers are blessed with a public input process as liberal as Alaskans but that should not stop you from letting your voice from being heard. Get to know your local biologist most of them are more than willing to answer questions. Find out the names and contact information of the members of your fish and wildlife boards and commissions. Don’t be afraid to contact them and let them know how you feel about fish & wildlife issues. Write your state legislatures make tell them what you think about specific issues. When you do contact any of these people give them fact and numbers you can backup. Don’t go in with a chip on your shoulder be polite, be concise and to the point. Change will take time and a lot of people willing to get involved but we can win. If  consumptive users don’t get involved Defenders of Wildlife and Ashley Judd will win by default and our children will not know what it is like to watch as their child take their first deer or moose.