MY COMMENTS IN THE DENVER POST TO WOLF REINTRODUCTION

http://neighbors.denverpost.com/viewtopic.php?p=113562#113562
Posted 01/25/08

"Posted: 4:41 am, Fri Jan 25 0
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I suggest a thorough study of all aspects of wolf reintroduction into a region where the wolf has been eradicated. The Otero Residents Forum is located in New Mexico does just that. (http://oteroresidentsforum.blogpost.com) The forum offers several links and essays on wolf reintroduction. I would also encourage residents of mountain communities adjoining Rocky Mountain National Park to look at the zip codes of the individuals who advocate for wolf reintroduction. Do advocates for wolf reintroduction live near Rocky Mountain National Park? Representatives of the Fish and Wildlife Service gave a presentation in our town in southern New Mexico, about their proposed wolf release program. I asked all of them where they lived. The FWS employees all lived in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. I wrote letters to the editors and did a radio show interview advocating for wolf release in the counties and forests where those two cities are located. The suggestion for wolf release in their home counties was not well received. If it was such a great idea, why not release the wolf in their home counties? Population? The FWS opined there were too many mountain communities in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties for wolf release.
We have populations on the desert and in the mounatins in southern New Mexico. Tourism? Threats to campers, mountain bikers and tourists were cited as reasons not to release wolves in those counties. We rely on tourism just as much as the northern New Mexico counties do. Livestock? Wolf predation on livestock in southern New Mexico has been disasterous. Don't believe the Defenders of Wildlife compensation claims. For the most part...their compensation program is a publicity gimmick for wolf lovers. Elk and deer populations have diminished because of wolf predation. Family pets, horses, and cattle have been killed by wolves. Anyone ask Ted Turner about wolf reintroduction? He owns the Vermijo ranch, 580,000 acres where he grazes cattle, harvests timeber and drills for natural gas. We can't graze on public lands in the forest anymore. Logging has been banned and there is no drilling for natural gas; all stopped by environmental litigation. Yet Ted Turner donates to these environmental groups. Does that tell you anything about the trust fund babies driving the environmental movement, to include wolf reintroduction in other people's backyards?

Rural residents in Catron county have erected sturdy wooden structures witnin high chain link enclosures to protect children waiting for the school bus, from wolves seen stalking children on rural roads. Again...check out the zip codes of those individuals advocating for wolf release. Do they live within the communities to be affected, or do they own a coffee table book about the spiritual and beautiful wolf 'culture'?

Read the article by Jamolov Hakimova, featured on the Otero Residents Forum. Mr. Hakimova is from Uzbekistan. If you're really passionate about wolf reintroduction, pick up a copy of "Wolves in Russia: Anxiety Through the Ages" by Will Graves. Do the research before you advocate for the release of a major carnivore in someone elses backyard. You owe that to your neighbors."