Of Wolves and Men

The public meeting in Cody last week seemed a good idea for coming together and putting ideas forth towards solutions. The points brought to attention were mostly those of Judge Molloy, and why he ruled against Wyoming. DNA exchange seems to be one of the big catch phrases in recent days, and seems to be the most focused point in Molloy's ruling. Rightly so. Wyoming is making an island of Yellowstone National Speedway. Unchecked, rampant growth and development to the south, and east, with Idaho and Montana to west and north, have limited routes of travel. A biotic island cannot survive, much humans could not survive on a deserted island with, say, one hundred of us all fighting for resources. The main point, to me, is the number of breeding pairs. Fifteen is the magic number for the good old state of Wyoming. They count on eight pairs in the park, seven outside. Well, what happens when the pack in Sunlight runs into the park for eight months, then comes out for ten days and is destroyed? One pack down in the park. We must stop thinking of the park as an island. THere is a reason the term Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem was devised. What we do outside of the park has tremendous impact on what happens inside the park. It is not an island, ecologically perfect, inside it's borders. No, it depends on it's surrounding area. That is a good segue into the next issue, dual status. By some imaginary line, we will do licensed hunts, by this other imaginary line, shoot at will. Remind anyone of the DMZ in Vietnam? Long and short, predator status is an abomination. We should, following that theory, put predator status upon ourselves, the most destructive and efficient predators on this continent, homo sapien. Ranchers have a right to defend their private livestock on their private property. If grazing on government land, well, hell, that is a risk taken. Leave the national lands to the non domesticated ungulates and carnivores, take your four wheelers and native grass destroyers back to the home range. Long and short, the solution is simple. No one is happy with how things are going. Time to stop these ignorant fights. Time for the ranchers and environmentalists, the deep ecologist and the biologist, the greeny and the conservative, the naturalist and the preservationist to sit down in the same room, lock the door, and not come out until an amicable solution is found. Wolves need management, but the correct type of management, one based on the survival of this beautiful species, not on fear and hate and myth and legend.