C
crestview
New member
I am sick of the all these efforts to help the wolves. When will people realize they bring nothing but death and carnage to the enviroment. Check out these articles from the Times News in Twin Falls Idaho.
It is utterly amazing how the Idaho Department of Fish and Game continues to hide the wolf-inflicted ungulate carnage going on in our state. A press release says, "Idaho wildlife managers are considering shrinking the hunting season for elk this fall to allow herds to recover from a harsh winter that took a toll on populations last winter."
What gives? We all know what is happening up north and that wolves are devastating the elk herd. This appears to be a prime opportunity for Fish and Game to "come clean" on the wolf depredation problem. However, instead it chooses to take the path of continued denial about the true impact of wolves. It would rather put out a politically correct deceptive news release that confuses the public and hides the real facts as to why our state's elk population is in a free-fall.
It appears it would rather cater to the pro-wolf crowd than to its hunting constituents. Need we forget that this is being done at the same time it is requesting hunters to fund their requested outrageous 20 percent, $5.1 million license and tag increase. It looks like it just may have "bit the hand that feeds it."
TONY MAYER
Twin Falls
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has officially begun hazing a pack of wolves hanging around Sun Valley in an attempt to steer them away from civilization.
Attempts to drive off the Phantom Hill pack began Tuesday when biologists spooked the wolves with a helicopter, said Regan Berkley, a regional wildlife biologist in the department's Magic Valley office. The work will continue over the next few days, prompted by the wolves' regional tour in search of elk.
"We want to make them think that humans are not someone they want to be too close to," Berkley said.
The wolves first showed up around the start of the month, drawing attention when they attacked and killed a mountain lion in the Elkhorn area. From there, Berkley recounted, the wolves appeared a few days later along the East Fork of the Big Wood River before swinging southwest to the Greenhorn Gulch drainage.
On Tuesday, the helicopter found them up Independence Gulch and pushed them farther east, away from Idaho Highway 75, she said. Hazing efforts now will include the helicopter and noisy "cracker shells" fired by people on the ground. The animals aren't likely to be removed or killed by the federal government because they've stuck to their usual prey, elk.
The hazing might also be helped by the fact that the snow in the area is melting, the precursor to the elk's usual move into higher terrain. Biologists hope that the wolves will follow them.
"The timing of this is right on the edge," Berkley said. "We would expect the wolves to take the hint."
And that would help out uneasy homeowners not used to wolves in the area. Lesley Andrus, who lives on Greenhorn Gulch Road, said she hasn't seen any, but knew to watch out.
"You're conscious when you take your dog out for a walk," she said.
Marcee Graff with the Wood River Elk Trust II said she'd gone out with Stanley wolf advocate Lynne Stone a couple of times to see the wolves, as well as the occasional elk carcass.
She said the trust - which used to feed the elk every winter before a lawsuit stopped that - would like to see more high-ridge feeding occur, a move she said would keep both the elk and the wolves away from subdivisions.
Lower-elevation feedings can lead to situations like the current one, Berkley said. She warned homeowners not to approach wolves, and to continue to keep pets and livestock closer to home and under control.
It is utterly amazing how the Idaho Department of Fish and Game continues to hide the wolf-inflicted ungulate carnage going on in our state. A press release says, "Idaho wildlife managers are considering shrinking the hunting season for elk this fall to allow herds to recover from a harsh winter that took a toll on populations last winter."
What gives? We all know what is happening up north and that wolves are devastating the elk herd. This appears to be a prime opportunity for Fish and Game to "come clean" on the wolf depredation problem. However, instead it chooses to take the path of continued denial about the true impact of wolves. It would rather put out a politically correct deceptive news release that confuses the public and hides the real facts as to why our state's elk population is in a free-fall.
It appears it would rather cater to the pro-wolf crowd than to its hunting constituents. Need we forget that this is being done at the same time it is requesting hunters to fund their requested outrageous 20 percent, $5.1 million license and tag increase. It looks like it just may have "bit the hand that feeds it."
TONY MAYER
Twin Falls
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has officially begun hazing a pack of wolves hanging around Sun Valley in an attempt to steer them away from civilization.
Attempts to drive off the Phantom Hill pack began Tuesday when biologists spooked the wolves with a helicopter, said Regan Berkley, a regional wildlife biologist in the department's Magic Valley office. The work will continue over the next few days, prompted by the wolves' regional tour in search of elk.
"We want to make them think that humans are not someone they want to be too close to," Berkley said.
The wolves first showed up around the start of the month, drawing attention when they attacked and killed a mountain lion in the Elkhorn area. From there, Berkley recounted, the wolves appeared a few days later along the East Fork of the Big Wood River before swinging southwest to the Greenhorn Gulch drainage.
On Tuesday, the helicopter found them up Independence Gulch and pushed them farther east, away from Idaho Highway 75, she said. Hazing efforts now will include the helicopter and noisy "cracker shells" fired by people on the ground. The animals aren't likely to be removed or killed by the federal government because they've stuck to their usual prey, elk.
The hazing might also be helped by the fact that the snow in the area is melting, the precursor to the elk's usual move into higher terrain. Biologists hope that the wolves will follow them.
"The timing of this is right on the edge," Berkley said. "We would expect the wolves to take the hint."
And that would help out uneasy homeowners not used to wolves in the area. Lesley Andrus, who lives on Greenhorn Gulch Road, said she hasn't seen any, but knew to watch out.
"You're conscious when you take your dog out for a walk," she said.
Marcee Graff with the Wood River Elk Trust II said she'd gone out with Stanley wolf advocate Lynne Stone a couple of times to see the wolves, as well as the occasional elk carcass.
She said the trust - which used to feed the elk every winter before a lawsuit stopped that - would like to see more high-ridge feeding occur, a move she said would keep both the elk and the wolves away from subdivisions.
Lower-elevation feedings can lead to situations like the current one, Berkley said. She warned homeowners not to approach wolves, and to continue to keep pets and livestock closer to home and under control.
