Gray wolves no longer protected by government
By Nicki Crisci
Opinion Editor
Imagine going on welfare after claiming bankruptcy. The government aid helps immensely and you become successful and independent. Shortly after, the government decides it wants the money back, causing bankruptcy and putting you on welfare again.
Would this make sense for the government to waste time and money this way? No. Neither does the Bush administration’s plan to take the gray wolf off the endangered species list and put it onto an open-season list, perhaps starting the cycle over again.
On March 28, the Federal Endangered Species Act’s de-listed gray wolves, putting them in danger.
According to the Web site www.newwest.net, the Bush administr- ation recently decided to allow the hunting of hundreds of these wolves. This isn’t just typical hunting of these wolves either. The administration is allowing aerial gunning, baiting and other means to eradicate the wolves.
The gray wolves that will be slaughtered have been on the endangered species list for 13 years. Programs were set up in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and in the Yellowstone and Northern Rocky regions to rebuild the wolf population.
The money granted for such a large undertaking was government aid—more than $27 million according to an Apr. 2 article in the Great Falls Tribune.
More than 1,500 wolves were reintroduced into the wild and now the government has decided that the numbers of wolves are more than enough. What helped tip the scale to favor the killing of the wolves? The livestock industry.
Everything boils down to greed rather than morality, decency and rational thinking. The administration seems more worried about the wolves killing off cattle. Cattle for which ranchers are reimbursed for $30,000, according to the Great Falls Tribune.
How can anyone honestly expect a predator with natural instincts not to go after a tempting food source? The wolves practically had their meals laid out for them on silver platters when the cattle were placed in the wolf-populated region.
Besides that, the administration is overlooking the fact that the wolves have other animals to hunt other than precious corporate cattle—an abundant elk population in the Yellowstone and Rocky regions.
So what will be the next step in this cycle? Will the wolves be slaughtered down to a level where they become endangered again, prompting another program costing millions?
Why not throw money away, it’s not like the nation is in debt or that money hasn’t been used for destructive purposes!
The way it’s going, it will become a continual cycle. The wolves will not be able to live in safety under the ever-present threat of helpers trying to rebuild the population or those trying to reduce the numbers once the wolves are too many.
Let the once endangered gray wolves remain protected and allow them to reproduce naturally.
Does the American government have to become so intrusive and god-like as to control every facet of life, including lives of wolves? Humans are the reason that they have died out from hunters in the first place.
More importantly, though, if this is happening with the gray wolf populations, what other programs can be introduced to pick and choose what to keep and what to destroy, and in what numbers?
Today the gray wolves, tomorrow who knows. Hopefully America will grow a conscience by then.
