They absolutely have a right to be here. I fully supported re-introduction here in Montana. However, I believe that wolves have sustained terrible cruelty and death that they might not have otherwise been subjected to had they not been re-introduced in certain areas. Wolves will go where ever they can and where ever they can be left alone. Humans, even wolf biologists, sometimes don’t know what’s best for wolves. I have always found it shocking and disturbing how wolves are hated by so many people in the west. I for one, am comforted knowing that wolves, mountain lions and other predators still room free.

bumper stickers showing crosshairs on a howling wolf up here...or the worst one that shows crosshairs on a wolf that says “smoke a pack a day”. It makes me ill.

a lobbyist for wolves in the tri-state DPS (MT, ID, WY) reintroduction back in the 90s. My badge of honor is the hatred I received from a former SofInt, several governors and senators and a bunch of hot heads in the region. I got out of it because I desired my safety, it's why I moved to MT, to get to a more sane state.

It was a topic I loved for the ranger talks I gave when I was in the park. I would give presentations still if anyone asked. I still have my Ppt slideshows and notes and it's easy enough to find updated info.

Oh and while we're on the subject...FYI from one of my wildlife warrior buddies:

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2020/02/07/wolf-opposition-is-part-of-the-cultural-war/

Can’t argue with the science. The dollars paid out to ranchers for their “losses” are outrageous. I had no idea.

and you live in the region. Sadly the press isn't helpful most of the time either.

And the states are always cooking the books when it comes to population counts, especially ID and WY. It's one of the things I argued against; taking the wolves off the ESA protections and allowing the states to manage them because this was and has always been the problem. It's not a biological argument, so the opposition uses the tactics we are seeing on the national scale now, emotion with no backup data. It has been ever thus.

I really would like to make a video of my park presentation, it wold be very helpful if it got on youtoob or something. When I gave the evening programs on the topic, the amphitheater was nearly always full. And when it was over, I would get a lot of people lining up to talk and thank me for the truth. You can't just make a biased presentation when you work for the NPS, you get to write your talks but they have to be approved and then are audited by officials who attend your talks. If you aren't meeting the standard, you'll hear about it. I had the advantage of having been involved long before the NPS gig, the whole issue was a case study in college.

Glad you liked George's article. He's a prolific writer and an environmental champion.

say who owns the land. Is this federal land they are grazing on? If we need to pay them for lost animals how about we start charging them market value for grazing rights.

before I even read your post. In my humble opinion, if a cow is killed by a wolf on public land, I don’t think we should have to pay fuck all in damages for that animal. Ranchers pay pennies for grazing rights on public land.