In a recent video from the New York Times we are given a second look at the reintroduction of wolves to the Northern Rocky Mountains. I don't agree with all of what is said in the vid, but what is unusual is that another side to the issue is even shown. In general I'd characterize the NYT as being not supportive of rural people or hunting. It's a measure of just how far this issue has moved, that the Times would produce a video that even shows a different perspective.
"It's really unfortunate that many of us did not think harder about the potential for the back lash". Says wolf advocate Lisa Upson Executive Director of Keystone Conservation Formerly of Natural Resources Defence Council.
"From a social experiment standpoint the wolf reintroduction has been a disaster of the greatest degree, and we're going to pay for that for years to come" Says Randy Newberg founding board member at Orion the Hunters Institute which provides leadership on ethical and philosophical issues to promote fair chase and responsible hunting." He goes on to say, "As a hunter you know, I thought, "we can handle this" as long as the agreements are followed this isn't the end of the world."
Ed Bangs former director of the wolf program for the US FWS "all of a sudden you had hunters who had stayed on the sidelines saying, "holy moly I'm not seeing any elk here all I'm seeing is wolf tracks"
"I was noticin that formerly very reasonable people" said Hal Herring, Environmentalist, Writer for High Country News, and Contributing Editor at Field and Stream "were beginnin to despise the Endangered Species Act, the wolf recovery, the whole thing"
Since this video was produced a federal judge in Washington DC has returned wolves in three Western Great Lakes States to federal protections. Though the Western Great Lakes are a different wolf population segment, this is probably one of the more encouraging developments for Rocky Mountain wolf management in quite a while.
Links below
Full NYT story with vid.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Original Agreement for Reintroduction in Northern Rocky Mountains