Only in the highly charged, polarized world of wolf politics is the killing of a few animals major news. I’m not challenging the news judgment. Even if 12 environmental groups were not seeking to reverse the wolf delisting, the killing of 37 wolves in a month would capture our attention. A few years ago the killing of several dozen sheep by wolves made the front page. But I’ve said for years wolf recovery will be complete when the killing of a few wolves is not news and the killing of a few cattle is not news.

In the current world, the killing of a few elk by wolves is news even though hunters kill thousands annually. Think about this fall when, if a judge doesn’t stop the state, Idaho opens its first wolf hunting season. You can bet the networks will be on the scene and the talking heads may turn away from the campaign long enough to argue about the lunacy of the scene, depending on what side they choose to take.

If the environmental groups are successful and the hunting season is stopped I predict more illegal wolf killings by hunters. The environmental groups will hold these poachers up as proof they were right to place wolves back on the list as if the federal government will have more success stopping poaching than the states. The Idaho Statesman ran a story a decade ago that said 50 percent of all poaching goes unpunished.

Idahoans, bitter about the decision, may not turn to religion but they may turn to their guns, to paraphrase Barack Obama. The decision by a prosecutor in Fremont County not to follow the recommendation of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, to bring charges against a rancher who went after a wolf on his snowmobile and killed it, may have the same kind of effect. Some people will give themselves permission to push or break the law and kill wolves.

The public relations game right now is to show dirty pictures of dead wolves and dead elk. Both sides have are appealing to people’s base instincts. Prepare yourself: Here are dead wolves at Ralph Maughan’s site . And here are dead elk at the site of Tony Mayer , who is seeking an initiative to take away the state’s power to manage wolves. Ironically, the initiative would do the same thing the environmental suit would do, turn management back to the federal government. Mayer hopes it can trigger a crisis he thinks will give hunters political traction.