Wolf Managment Poll

[jherald]

At least one thing here where I am, the people out here will kill just about anything with fur and hide that will be used to make clothing or for trade, barter and sale. There is nairy a wolf to be seen until you start getting up north to the Yukon or east to Dillingham.

I've only seen one wolf around where I'm at in the 5 years I've been working here.

 

[littlebuf]

looking at the poll results as of this point it seems safe to say there is a majority here that want some wolves. so what is the acceptable number? what success story's in wolf introduction can be sited as the right number of wolves in the lower 48? how do you feel about the "right" or "managed" number of wolves in deer and elk wintering ranges where they have essentially a captive food source? while kill them all i agree does sound like a radical stance please tell me how the other options work. i cant see a successful out come to the other 3 poll options so selecting anything but kill them all is accepting willingly whats being shoved down our throats. unless im missing something?

 

[7mag.]

I voted to kill most of them, but I should have voted to kill them all. After seeing what they have done to the deer and elk herds here in Washington, it is obvious that they need to be removed. We can't trust our game department to be honest with us about wolf numbers or the impact they are having, so trusting them to manage them will not work.

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

I should have qualified my statement above with:

They should never have been introduced in the first place, but if you think we're going to get rid of them completely, you're sorely mistaken! If we beat the population back under objectives (with poor management, over hunting, poaching, etc...) we'll be back into the same cycle of "endangered status". They will NEVER admit that the grey wolf is a non-native specie. They're here to stay, make the most of it.

I would like to see them start allowing some grizzly tags too. Those bears are flourishing in parts of SE Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming yet we are not allowed to hunt them. I for one would absolutely jump at the opportunity IF it ever comes about. We have that opportunity with wolves and the opportunity is not limited by drawing or high fees. How many of you are taking advantage of it?

 

[Travis Bertrand]

I should have qualified my statement above with:

They should never have been introduced in the first place, but if you think we're going to get rid of them completely, you're sorely mistaken! If we beat the population back under objectives (with poor management, over hunting, poaching, etc...) we'll be back into the same cycle of "endangered status". They will NEVER admit that the grey wolf is a non-native specie. They're here to stay, make the most of it.

I would like to see them start allowing some grizzly tags too. Those bears are flourishing in parts of SE Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming yet we are not allowed to hunt them. I for one would absolutely jump at the opportunity IF it ever comes about. We have that opportunity with wolves and the opportunity is not limited by drawing or high fees. How many of you are taking advantage of it?

It boggles me that we spent hundreds of years trying to get rid of the wolf and grizzly only to have our hard work ripped away by Washington.

Now we have to live with it and wolves are apart of the ecosystem like it or not, they do need to be managed better, ALOT better.

 

[2ski]

Tough question to answer. Being in MT, we seem to make changes each year to the limits, seasons, allowing electronic game calls, trapping, increasing the amount of tags per person, ect. So I have to say as far as MT goes, keep things how they are. The FWP and legislature have a dynamic system in place. They are changing the management based on the last year's results. I think this is key. Not over-reacting and forcing the feds to step in and take over again. Lets face it, wolves are here to stay. The feds won't let them go away again, so we need to manage them like every other game animal. At some point, all disagreeing factions need to comprimise. What's important to me and you isn't always important to our neighbor. And noone trusts the other side. The greenies don't trust us, we don't trust them....I think there could be more comprimise in things like this if each side didn't lack trust in eachother.

Just for clairification, its my understanding that the wolves in Yellowstone/SW MT/ID, and WY are from the introduced wolves, but the ones in NW MT/N. ID came down from Canadia. Yes/No?

 

[littlebuf]

the ones in NW MT/N. ID came down from Canadia. Yes/No?

yeah right. they just all the sudden popped up after the wolf war was in full swing. I guess they get the same newsletters we all get and they showed up for support at just the right time .

 

[lorneparker1]

How about one more option...

Manage them along with other game management. No special privileges.

This

I think the kill em all`attitude`towards apex predators is ridiculous. ÌF there is to many , kill some, but keep some around to keep the ungluates in check. The truth is urban sprawl is getting worse andworse, and we infringing more and more in their territory. There fore there is less area and some need to be culled. What we really need is to cull some humans!

Lorne

 

[littlebuf]

. The truth is urban sprawl is getting worse andworse, and we infringing more and more in their territory.

Lorne

this is exactly the reason there's not room for a predator such as the wolf. the urban sprawl as also diminished there preys habitat essentially giving them a captive prey source in the winter. elk and deer don't stand a chance and wolves wont self regulate what they kill. 100 years ago the prey had room to escape. now they don't, its not a real complicated scenario, they don't work period.

 

[fillthefreezer]

they would if we get rid of some of the sprawl

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

Just for clairification, its my understanding that the wolves in Yellowstone/SW MT/ID, and WY are from the introduced wolves, but the ones in NW MT/N. ID came down from Canadia. Yes/No?

They are Canadian imports also - not there due to natural migration. They are, however, spreading like cheat grass into Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, and even all the way over to California. Some think that a few of them have had a little help along the way - like a ride in the back of a subaru or something to that effect.

 

[littlebuf]

I didn't know fish and game had Subaru's? wouldn't surprise me though

 

[magpie]

For the guys who are crying about these being Canadian wolves all it takes is spend a few minutes googling wolves in north america. Read some of the articles and you will get your answer. But its too easy to just spread hearsay.

I think we should get rid of mountain goats from most of the areas in CO. They were not historically there so why have them???

 

[magpie]

btw i was joking about getting rid of them, but it is true, quite a few of the population of mt goats are not in areas they were historically! IMPORTS! Get rid of them!!!

 

[magpie]

Wolves NEVER crossed the imaginary line between the US and Canada! The "american" wolves stayed away from the "canadian" wolves. 'Merica!

 

[tstowater]

I didn't vote. I don't live where the wolves are, but I do know that the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, etc. want them everywhere, including Iowa. Now, the question is: Do they really want wolves or do they want to eliminate hunters?? I'm cynical than most and think they want to eliminate our opportunity to hunt. We (humans) have put the whole ecosystem out of balance. Just read all the previous comments. If the hunters can't agree as the proper control of wolves, how are we to expect the people on the sideline, let alone the pro-wolf folks. There are efforts in place to delist in the lower 48. All this will do is put "wolf management" in the hands of the States. Obviously, some of the States will do their bests to control the wolves and some won't. If you are tired of seeing the impact of the wolves on your hunting opportunites, then do something about it and support the work of the primary group working on the delisting: Big Game Forever. Look at their website and get an idea of how they see the landscape. Once you get wolves, they will only continue to grow in numbers until they run out of food, period.

 

[Kevin Root]

I'm all for conservation and using hunters as a management tool but I think the endangered species act gets misused at times. It has become a tool to try and keep man or the recreational hunters out of the equation of managing our wildlife. One of the examples that comes to mind is also our California Mountain Lion listed as endangered along with the wolf into Yellowstone project. When Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973, it recognized that our rich natural heritage is of “esthetic, ecological, educational, recreational, and scientific value to our Nation and its people. “Endangered” means a species is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Counting populations of Mountain Lion perhaps might be difficult and has its challenges for Wildlife management to count. Managing all the huge human population of California in itself has its challenges for the Fish and Wildlife service but delisting Mountain Lions goes deeper than protecting Mountain Lions or Wolves from becoming extinct. IMO it has been more about keeping recreational hunters out of the equation of managing our wildlife and using the endangered species act yet again to do just that.

 

[hunthard]

I think littlebuf sounds like a smart guy. We are way to trusting of our government.

 

[lorneparker1]

this is exactly the reason there's not room for a predator such as the wolf. the urban sprawl as also diminished there preys habitat essentially giving them a captive prey source in the winter. elk and deer don't stand a chance and wolves wont self regulate what they kill. 100 years ago the prey had room to escape. now they don't, its not a real complicated scenario, they don't work period.

So are you saying wolves should be extinct then?

Lorne

 

[Shrek]

I would be fine with wolf extinction.