what does one expect from a guy named Butch

[Guest guest]

Idaho Governor Calls for Gray Wolf Kill

 

January 12, 2007 — By Jesse Harlan Alderman, Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho -- Idaho's governor said Thursday he will support public hunts to

kill all but 100 of the state's gray wolves after the federal government strips

them of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

 

Gov. C.L. " Butch " Otter told The Associated Press that he wants hunters to kill

about 550 gray wolves. That would leave about 100 wolves, or 10 packs, according

to a population estimate by state wildlife officials.

 

The 100 surviving wolves would be the minimum before the animals could again be

considered endangered.

 

" I'm prepared to bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself, " Otter said

earlier Thursday during a rally of about 300 hunters.

 

Otter complained that wolves are rapidly killing elk and other animals essential

to Idaho's multimillion-dollar hunting industry. The hunters, many wearing

camouflage clothing and blaze-orange caps, applauded wildly during his comments.

 

Suzanne Stone, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife in

Boise, said Otter's proposal would return wolves to the verge of eradication.

 

" Essentially he has confirmed our worst fears for the state of Idaho: That this

would be a political rather than a biological management of the wolf

population, " Stone said. " There's no economic or ecological reason for

maintaining such low numbers. It's simple persecution. "

 

Wolves were reintroduced to the northern Rocky Mountains a decade ago after

being hunted to near-extinction. More than 1,200 now live in the region.

 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to start removing federal protections

from gray wolves in Montana and Idaho in the next few weeks.

 

A plan drafted by Idaho's wildlife agency calls for maintaining a minimum of 15

wolf packs -- higher than Otter's proposal of 10 packs.

 

Jeff Allen, a policy adviser for the state Office of Species Conservation, said

15 wolf packs would allow " a cushion " between the surviving wolf population and

the minimum number that federal biologists would allow before the animals are

again considered endangered.

 

Allen said Otter and state wildlife officials agree on wolf strategy and will be

able to reach a consensus on specific numbers.

 

" You don't want to be too close to 10 because all of a sudden when one (wolf) is

hit by a car or taken in defense of property, you're back on the list, " Allen

said.

 

Source: Associated Press

 

 

What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, it's what we know for sure

that just ain't so.

- Mark Twain