Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Wolves hold no special place


The trapping and killing of wolves in Lolo may not make sense to Jack Lauer in his March 30 letter ("Strategy on wolves makes no sense"), but I'm guessing that he is neither a field biologist nor a professional wildlife manager. If I'm correct in this assumption, then his opinion on this matter, matters not. I don't ask my favorite chef for stock tips or medical advice. I'm not interested in Mr. Lauer's opinion about balancing predation on elk herds in Lolo. We should let scientist and field professionals do their job, because they tend to use this stuff called "data."

In fact, what frustrates me most about opinions on this issue is the fact-free emotionality of them. We reintroduced wolves and now they need to be managed just like deer, elk, lions, bears, etc., ad infinitum. The idea that wolves should occupy a special category just baffles me.

Some people may not like it, but because we are the hyper-dominant species in the region, and have upset our ecosystem to such a great extent, we've put ourselves into the position of having to manage it. The alternative is to euthanize ourselves (you first, please) and let things find a more ideal equilibrium. In the meantime, please feel free to take pictures.

Mark Farris

Ketchum




About Comments

Comments with content that seeks to incite or inflame may be removed.

Comments that are in ALL CAPS may be removed.

Comments that are off-topic or that include profanity or personal attacks, libelous or other inappropriate material may be removed from the site. Entries that are unsigned or contain signatures by someone other than the actual author may be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or any other policies governing this site. Use of this system denotes full acceptance of these conditions. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

The comments below are from the readers of mtexpress.com and in no way represent the views of Express Publishing, Inc.

You may flag individual comments. You may also report an inappropriate or offensive comment by clicking here.

Flagging Comments: Flagging a comment tells a site administrator that a comment is inappropriate. You can find the flag option by pointing the mouse over the comment and clicking the 'Flag' link.

Flagging a comment is only counted once per person, and you won't need to do it multiple times.

Proper Flagging Guidelines: Every site has a different commenting policy - be sure to review the policy for this site before flagging comments. In general these types of comments should be flagged:

  • Spam
  • Ones violating this site's commenting policy
  • Clearly unrelated
  • Personal attacks on others
Comments should not be flagged for:
  • Disagreeing with the content
  • Being in a dispute with the commenter

Popular Comment Threads



 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.