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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt's Now Illegal to Kill Wolves in Wyoming!!
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/09/wolf-hunts-canceled-wyoming-endangered-species-gray-wolfFor the past two years, killing a wolf in Wyoming was pretty simple. In a trophy game area near the border of Yellowstone, licensed hunters were allowed to take a certain number of gray wolves. In the rest of the state, or about 80 percent of Wyoming's land, anyone could kill a limitless number of them on sight.
But that's about to change. A judge ruled Tuesday that the animals' delisting in 2012, which handed management of the species over to the Wyoming government, was "arbitrary and capricious," and that the state isn't ready to manage wolf populations on its own. The move has wolf activists breathing a sigh of relief; Wyoming's management plan, as Sierra Club's Bonnie Rice put it, could have potentially taken wolves "back to the brink of extinction." Judge Amy Berman Jackson did not challenge the previous finding that wolves had recovered and that the species "is not endangered or threatened within a significant portion of its range." But even so, her ruling means that Wyoming's wolves will again enjoy protections under the Endangered Species Act and can no longer be huntedat least in the short term.
While as many as 2 million gray wolves once roamed North America, the carnivores were nearly wiped out by humans by the early 1900s. Roughly 5,500 remain today, though an uptick in laws permitting wolf hunting in states like Wyoming, New Mexico, Montana, and Idaho all threaten to keep the animals scarce. Wyoming's hunting and "kill-on-sight" policies, for instance, meant 219 wolves were gunned down since 2012, according to Earthjustice.
In part because wolves were reintroduced in Wyoming, whether to kill or protect this predator remains a very polarizing issue in the state. Wolves kill farm animals and pets, pissing off ranchers and rural landowners alike and feeding into the attitude that the canids are just a deadly nuisance. A Facebook photo posted last year by hunting outfitters, for instance, shows a group of hunters posing with a dead wolf with blood covering its paws and mouth. The caption reads "Wyoming is FED up." Commenters responded with notes like "the only good Canadian gray wolf to me is a dead Canadian gray wolf" and "Keep on killing guys!"
But scientists and conservationists have fought hard to restore this species into the North American ecosystem. Studies have shown that wolves maintain balance in the environment: they prey on other large mammals like moose and elk, whose populations (and eating habits) can get out of control without a predator to keep them in check; their hunting helps feed scavengers like wolverines, bald eagles, and mountain lions; their predation can force elk to hang out in smaller groups, thereby reducing the spread of diseases; and they've even been found to be good for the soil.
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montanacowboy
(6,081 posts)Oh, that's great!!!!
2naSalit
(86,513 posts)this:
People need to know this part. Perhaps all the recent noise-making in the general information realm will float this information and carry it a little farther. I'm right here at ground 0 on this issue and one of the most important points to make is this one.
Thanks for posting.
G_j
(40,366 posts)& from September 28, 2012
Why the Beaver Should Thank the Wolf
By MARY ELLEN HANNIBAL
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/opinion/the-world-needs-wolves.htm
This month, a group of environmental nonprofits said they would challenge the federal governments removal of Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Wyoming. Since there are only about 328 wolves in a state with a historic blood thirst for the hides of these top predators, the nonprofits are probably right that lacking protection, Wyoming wolves are toast.
Many Americans, even as they view the extermination of a species as morally anathema, struggle to grasp the tangible effects of the loss of wolves. It turns out that, far from being freeloaders on the top of the food chain, wolves have a powerful effect on the well-being of the ecosystems around them from the survival of trees and riverbank vegetation to, perhaps surprisingly, the health of the populations of their prey.
An example of this can be found in Wyomings Yellowstone National Park, where wolves were virtually wiped out in the 1920s and reintroduced in the 90s. Since the wolves have come back, scientists have noted an unexpected improvement in many of the parks degraded stream areas.
Stands of aspen and other native vegetation, once decimated by overgrazing, are now growing up along the banks. This may have something to do with changing fire patterns, but it is also probably because elk and other browsing animals behave differently when wolves are around. Instead of eating greenery down to the soil, they take a bite or two, look up to check for threats, and keep moving. The greenery can grow tall enough to reproduce.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6310211.stm
Wild wolves 'good for ecosystems'
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Love woooofzz.
EEO
(1,620 posts)... it is cruel at times, but it has to be. Predators are a necessary component of it and we need to stop fucking with the balance. Note I did not say a "necessary evil." That would be making a moral judgement of a system that does not function on morality. it is all survival of the fittest. Adapt or face extinction. Nature is merciless because it has to be. And the evolution of species is like an arms race to balance the playing field between predators and prey.
G_j
(40,366 posts)Spirochete
(5,264 posts)wolf packs heading in the direction of Wyoming...
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)It breaks my heart to see such beautiful animals slaughtered
tabasco
(22,974 posts)We must keep fighting to prevent destruction of our natural world.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)I was involved in an Ecology course not too long ago. The professor (who is highly respected in the field and active for many decades) said the largest threat is human overpopulation, and that it's the truth despite the fact that it's taboo to mention the problem.
Balance is everything, and yet our numbers are so out of proportion.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)Human overpopulation is our #1 problem.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)I've been saying this for decades....on DU2, i used to get some seriously hostile responses. Very very frustrating. And sad.
We could choose to limit our numbers, encourage that in empowering, positive ways worldwide.....or not, and then the inevitable collapse under the weight of us will take care of the problem. In massive, awful, traumatic, painful ways.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)Wolves were there for a reason...it's called balance...fucking idiots. Good news...knr
littlewolf
(3,813 posts)G_j
(40,366 posts)I'm not sure. I believe that is true in other places. In some other states, compensation is given in the rare instances of lost livestock or pets. And there are other states where wolves are still being slaughtered.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Wolves, cougars, bears and yes even coyotes, are far more valuable than a few sheep. apex and mid-tier predators are what makes the ecosystem work, while ranch animals are mostly a dangerous nuisance. Pay ranchers market value for lost animals, leave the predators alone.
As for lost pets? Keep your fucking cats inside, and your dog on a fucking leash - those animals are vermin if they're running around unattended, and predators are doing a service by clearing them away.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)"I want to fence off thousands of acres of the ecosystem, raise one species, and KILL anything that threatens my money-making operation, even if it is an endangered species."
2naSalit
(86,513 posts)one of the compromises made early on in this twenty+ year battle. The ESA was altered numerous times to compromise from the advocates of wolves side of the argument but no give from opponents, just nastiness and assumptions based on mythology rather than answer to acknowledge the scientific indications that wolves are important to the environment and genetic integrity of the prey species.
The ranching community is blowing a lot of smoke. They whine a lot but if they would actually get out and do their jobs, there would be far less then the 0.01% of wolf predation on livestock that barely exists in the first place. There have been numerous non-lethal wolf management techniques developed but the ranching community won't employ them due to unrealistic hatred.
niyad
(113,229 posts)CaptainTruth
(6,583 posts)glinda
(14,807 posts)LW1977
(1,233 posts)Although wolf hunting is (was) legal in Wyoming, these hunters go further to make a statement about their attitude toward wolves and their impact on big-game populations in October 2013. (Wind River Outdoor World)
ENDANGERED SPECIES Federal protections for gray wolves in Wyoming were reinstated today after a judge invalidated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services 2012 statewide Endangered Species Act delisting of the species, according to Earthjustice.
The ruling from the U.S. District Court halts the management of wolves by Wyoming, a state with a history of anti-wolf policies.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)I'm guessing not a day of military service among these coward killers.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)Now we must work to make this permanent!
2naSalit
(86,513 posts)same kind of ruling in at least Idaho and, I wish, Montana.