[Gustave Dore woodcut]
In 1996, 20 more wolves were released into the Frank Church Wilderness area. Over the last two and a half decades grey wolf populations have exploded rapidly across our western states, (and also in the Great Lakes Region), prompting the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to seek a complete delisting of wolves from the threatened and endangered species list.
The numbers have increased so rapidly in fact, that in 2010 the Federal government spent $4,566,000.00 to remove a total of 307 “problem” wolves that were habitually preying on livestock in the Rocky Mountain Region alone. That equates to about $15,000.00 of tax payer money spent for killing each “problem” wolf. [1] The staggering cost of reintroducing and then managing these large predators has been compounded by recent legislation mandating that taxpayers pick up the cost of reimbursing ranchers and sheepherders for livestock losses.[2]
Wolf reintroductions and population growth is not limited to our northern or western states. Wolf advocates are actively seeking to expand wolf range across 100% of their former territory. Wolf proponents forced the USFWS to change it’s “Final Rule” de-listing wolves from the endangered species list in the Great Lakes region until USFWS agreed to consider 29 eastern states separately at a later date. [3]
The map below is a compilation of four maps dating back to the 1500’s representing wolf habitat in the contiguous United States. The dark area represents territory where all four maps are in agreement as to the historic extent of grey wolf range. The lighter shades of grey indicate where only one to three maps are in agreement. [4]
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has already identified Adirondack State Park and two areas in New England as possible recovery areas.[5] There are at present, two initiatives underway to safeguard a wolf corridor between Algonquin Park in Ontario and Adirondack Park.[6]
In July, 2010, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the Obama administration for a national recovery plan that would establish wolf populations in the Pacific Northwest, California, Great Basin, southern Rocky Mountains, Great Plains and New England.
Introduction of the Red Wolf (a smaller subspecies) began in 1987 in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (ARNWR) in northeastern North Carolina. As of July 2012, an estimated 700 red wolf pups have been born in the wild in North Carolina.[7]
Captive reared Mexican grey wolves were released into Arizona and New Mexico in 1998.[8] Recent Rocky Mountain Elk introductions in Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia and Tennessee are a precursor for later wolf reintroductions into those states as well.
Keep in mind that wolves often remain a Federally protected species long after they have “successfully” repopulated an area and have begun to have severe negative impacts on ranchers and farmers. For example, here is what an individual may NOT do in Arizona and New Mexico:
You May Not Legally:
• Kill or injure a wolf just because it is
near you or your property.
• Kill or injure a wolf that attacks your
pet (including working and hunting
dogs), regardless of land ownership
(private, public, tribal).
• Kill or injure a wolf that is in the act of
killing, wounding, or biting your cattle,
sheep, horses, mules, or burros on
public land without a U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service permit.
• Kill or injure a wolf that is feeding on a
livestock carcass (you cannot assume
the wolf killed it because wolves will
feed on carrion).
• Violate official closures around occupied
release pens, active dens, and
rendezvous sites.
• Shoot a wolf because you thought it was
a coyote or something else (you are
responsible for identifying your target
before shooting).
• Attempt to do any of the above actions
or solicit someone else to do them.
Violators of the above “rules” are subject to criminal prosecution, imprisonment for up to one year, and fines up to $75,000.00.[9]
American taxpayers should know that contrary to environmentalist propaganda, wolves were never a threatened or endangered species. The global population of wolves has been stable for over a century and covers a wide range. Current estimates of the total wolf population place the figure at nearly a million and growing. For this reason, gray wolves are officially classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as a species of “least concern.” [10]
Wolf numbers are increasing rapidly around the world as they re-populate ranges where they were formerly expatriated from. Wolves are causing severe financial problems for sheep herders and ranchers not just in the United States, but also in Norway, Sweden, Spain, Italy, France and Germany. One rancher, just north of Spokane, Washington, has estimated wolf depradation has cost him $100,000.00 in cattle and calf losses this year alone. [11] Such loses are financially unsustainable and pose a severe risk to the nation’s food supply.
Here in the U.S., planning is already underway for the re-introduction of additional large predators. In 2012, the USFWS announced the initial stages of a jaguar recovery plan with the goal of establishing viable populations of the big cats as far north as the Grand Canyon.[12] The Obama administration has already announced, “that it will protect the endangered jaguar’s prime habitat and develop a jaguar recovery plan.” [13]
Successful “rewilding” of the planet depends on eliminating capitalism and substantially reducing the global human population. The widespread reintroduction of top tier predators (“keystone” species) that directly compete with, (and will ultimately displace) humans, is the tip of the spear. [14]
[1] http://www.fws.gov/mountain prairie/species/mammals/wolf/annualrpt/FINAL_2010_Northern_Rockies_Summary_and_Background_3_9_11.pdf
[2] Omnibus Public Lands Bill -Public Law 111-11
[4] California Fish and Game 93(4):224-227
omots page 
Yeah, I decided to jump in and publish my own blog again after a one year hiatus. Thought I’d start off with an update on wolf “reintroduction”. Pro-wolf comments are welcome, but please be respectful. Rude and/or slanderous comments will be deleted.
Welcome back OMOTS!
Related to your topic, I noticed a headline this morning indicating that every once in a while common sense prevails over enviornmental extremism – right here in our neck of the woods.
“Wolf cull on B.C.-Washington border a question of survival: Rancher”
http://tinyurl.com/8mdce4s
“WDFW Plans to Eliminate Wolf Pack to End Attacks”
http://kbkw.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4605
-Rudi/Ruth
Hey Ruth, thanks for commenting.
Two things to note…
1. WDFW is trying to act fast as fast as possible before lawsuits are filed to block the “cull”, and
2. With 9 to 12 wolf packs already “officially” established in Washington State, (and countless more just across the border in B.C., Idaho, and Montana), it’s just a matter of time, probably by early next summer, before another pack moves in to claim the territory, or rather, claim the beef.
Thanks again Ruth, that Province piece is an excellent article. Shows the true cost (millions of dollars) to the livestock industry on both sides of the border. If you think steak is expensive now, just wait until next year.
The eviro whackos will never believe the facts..doesn’t fit their ideology.
Hey, like the “old days”.
Environmentalists don’t seem to understand with the over-population of wolves comes the decimation of BIRDS. Yes, bird’s eggs are gobbled-up and so are the chicks, and sometimes even the adults. Here comes the “silent spring” again! Wolf menu includes almost everything that moves.
Daddy wolf says, “Mommy wolf, our pups are hungry and I smelled a nest of Green-tailed towhees and a Ross’s goose was spending the night in the local pond; yum!”
Reminds me of the wind-turbines chopping-up hundreds of Golden eagles, and hardly a chirp from the vaunted environmentalists.
Disgusting hypocrisy, but then again, when does the Left ever show any shame?
Well, I had to get my two-cents worth.
Welcome back,
Dennis
Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association has a “Wolf attack” photo gallery page worth viewing. There’s also a “take action” page for those who are interested in making their voices heard in Olympia.
http://stevenscountycattlemen.wordpress.com/wolf-attack-photo-gallery/
The elimination of the Wedge Pack in northern Stevens County last week has re-energized the pro-wolf lobby and put WDFW on the defensive.
Sen. Kevin Ranker, the chairman of the state Senate committee that oversees Washington’s Department of Fish & Wildlife told NBC News, “that the killing of a gray wolf pack in recent days was “inexcusable” and that he is demanding answers about why the agency thought it was necessary.”
This video is typical of the unbalanced media coverage:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/29/14151323-killing-of-wolf-pack-criticized-by-key-washington-state-lawmaker
But beyond all the lobbying, the displays of ignorance, and the intentional twisting of facts, you have the “intelligentsia”, the truly elite environmentalists like Dave Foreman, the man credited with creating the concept of “rewilding” in the first place. (See footnote link #14 in original post). These folks know exactly what the consequences of wolf reintroduction are. In their mind, wolves are good, cattle and sheep are bad, and humans are even worse.
OMOTS,
Welcome back!
Thanks for bringing forth this info on the danger of the rewilding impetus. One must really wonder why there’s such a push for an expanded/ing wolf population. But, then again, it seems there’s a corollary: it appears that the wolf population is simultaneously growing in the Church.
Craig,
The corollaries need more emphasis.
God uses predatory beasts to punish transgression among HIS people:
“And I will leave thee [thrown] into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.” [Eze 29:5]
“Say thou thus unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord GOD; [As] I live, surely they that [are] in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that [is] in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that [be] in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.'” [Eze 33:27 , 39:4 etc.]
“And they were scattered, because [there is] no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.” Eze 34:5
But when people repent of their wickedness, God says:
“And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.” [Eze 34:2]
And in the not to distant future:
“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” [Rev 6:8]
We can see the clouds forming. We know the hour is late.
Praise God for the Good Shepherd. We might climb the fences from time to time, but we are assured He will never forsake us, even leaving the 99 to look for the 1.
Good article. Well-written and informative.
The next time wolves are introduced into the environment, perhaps the US government will spend millions of taxpayer dollars by doing away with the re-wilding program, and instill a re-training program to teach wolves to eat grass and vegetables (as opposed to preying on four-footed animals, which is what carnivorous predators do!).
On second thought, that won’t work, because the shortage of vegetation will upset the tree-hugging en-virus-mentalists, farmers, and TV cooking show hosts.
By the way, didn’t grizzly bears once roam the south?
Hmm…
Thanks for commenting Bud.
And yes, as I indicated in the post, other large predators are part of the rewilding agenda as well. There’s even a paleo-rewilding branch that seeks to bring back extinct species. But fortunately for us, species that still exist are the current focus.
Our biggest problem is that the public has been groomed to think this is all a good idea.
Wolves are the key species because they are opportunists that can do very well in a wide range of habitats around the world. No other large predator can expand in range and numbers faster than canis lobo. They really don’t need our help. [See my comment and links provided under “Living with Wolves Pt. 2” re: the rapid wolf re-colonization of western Europe.]
Yesterday I made a tongue in cheek comment on another blog about bringing grizzly bears back into California to recolonize their former territory before the wolves move in. I’d love to see ursus horribilis roaming the beaches near Malibu like they did 500 years ago, wouldn’t you? I wonder how the rewilding supportive Hollywood crowd would react when a griz showed up at one of their beach parties?
But don’t laugh. Grizzlies, jaguars, and even cheetahs, are indeed, part of the rewilding agenda. Wolves are just species numero uno. Top dog in english.
http://nwsportsmanmag.com/2012/10/05/the-daily-howler-10-05-12-why-wdfw-killed-the-wedge-wolves/#comment-31479
Hey Bud,
Isn’t that God’s job, to make the lion and the sheep lie down together?