AR-News: (US ID) Frustrated hunters lead anti-wolf movement

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

IdahoStatesman.com
Sportsmen say predators are decimating elk herds, but views on fixing issue 
differ



Joe Jaszewski / The Idaho Statesman
Ron Gillett has amassed stacks and stacks of documents, newspaper clippings, 
bumper stickers and e-mail printouts in his crusade to remove wolves from 
Idaho.
Wolves and elk
Here's a sampling of what biologists know about wolves and elk:
• Elk and wolves evolved together, but both face changed conditions because 
of humans.
• The number of elk counted in northern Yellowstone has dropped from 19,359 
in 1994 to 8,355 in December 2003. In the 1960s, rangers killed elk to keep the 
herd at about 3,500. The reduction of elk has increased vegetation such as 
aspen trees in the park.
• The critical calf-cow ratio has shown a significant drop in Yellowstone and 
Jackson Hole, but biologists aren't sure wolves are the sole cause.
• In central Idaho, calf-cow ratio trends are mixed, with a decline in the 
Middle Fork of the Salmon River area but increases in portions of the Clearwater 
country in north-central Idaho since the 1990s.
• Wildlife managers in Canada and Alaska, where wolf populations are strong, 
regularly manage game herds by increasing hunting seasons, or even hiring 
hunters to kill wolves so that big game numbers rebound faster.
Joe Jaszewski / The Idaho Statesman
Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition leader, outfitter and hunter Ron Gillett maintains 
that the federal government’s reintroduction of wolves into central Idaho is a 
violation of the Endangered Species Act. Gillett believes that the wolves are 
a serious threat to big game herds, livestock and people. He is planning a 
lawsuit against the federal government to remove the wolves from Idaho.

The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 06-20-2004
The hair stands up on the back of Warren Johns' neck when he hears a bull elk 
bugle.

Johns and other hunters say they are hearing that haunting scream far less 
these days. Increasingly, they are hearing another sound cut through the morning 
mist — the howl of wolves.

State and federal officials are hearing a growing wail from hunters that the 
reintroduction of wolves in Idaho in 1995 and 1996 threatens big game.
So far, there is scant biological evidence that wolves threaten the state elk 
herd or even its harvest. But hunters who say they are seeing and hearing 
fewer elk are skeptical. Many are flocking to support a growing anti-wolf 
movement in Idaho that is pressuring state and federal officials to act now to reduce 
or eliminate wolves.

"When we started holding meetings we might have had 10 people show up," said 
Jack Oyler, who helped found the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition in 1999. "Today 
when we go to meetings, there are 300 to 400 people there."
The movement has three faces:


full story:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040620/NEWS01/40620
0325/1002/NEWS02 


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