Northern Rockies Wolves Might Lose Protection

Thanks to conservation efforts, gray wolves in various parts of the United States have made a comeback, enough to potentially be removed from the endangered species list, but not everyone is happy that the wolves are doing so well. Indeed, if plans move forward to remove the protected status of wolves in the Northern Rockies region of the U.S., at least three states (Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana) are planning on setting up public hunts with rock-bottom prices for permits, possibly reducing the population back down to 300. Some members of Congress have protested the potential removal of the protected status of wolves, but it seems unlikely to change the plans of the states that are (in their words) "hostile to wolf conservation." Indeed, this isn't just a numbers game but one about healthy populations and genetic diversity, and large-scale hunts could put wolves back into jeopardy when they have only just recovered. This issue has been boiling for quite some time, occasional news reports and "action alerts" from conservation groups making it difficult to get hard facts, but from what I can tell states are planning on killing the maximum number of wolves that they can without wolves reverting to endangered status, in which case we may yet lose wolves in the Northern Rockies region. There are problem animals that may require removal and some level of wolf management (involving hunting) will need to be implemented, but the plans currently in place seem to be too much, too soon, and show little regard for the actual conservation of the animals. The issue in general, though, recalls these lines by Aldo Leopold from the essay "The Round River" (in A Sand County Almanac);

We need knowledge-public awareness-of the small cogs and wheels, but sometimes I think there is something we need even more. It is the thing that Forest and Stream, on its editorial masthead, once called 'a refined taste in natural objects'. Have we made any headway in developing 'a refined taste in natural objects'?

In the northern parts of the lake states we have a few wolves left. Each state offers a bounty on wolves. In addition, it may invoke the expert services of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in wolf-control. Yet both this agency and the several conservation commissions complain of an increasing number of localities where there are too many deer for the available feed. Foresters complain of periodic damage from too many rabbits. Why, then, continue the public policy of wolf-exterminations? We debate such questions in terms of economics and biology. The mammologists assert the wolf is the natural check on too many deer. The sportsmen reply they will take care of excess deer. Another decade of argument and there will be no wolves to argue about. One conservation inkpot cancels another.