Free to good home:
Idaho gray wolves. Bring the call of the wild to your state's backcountry. Unspayed/un-neutered. Sociable and enjoy traveling in packs. Great conversation piece; Idahoans have been arguing over them for years. Need large backyard. Love open space and ungulates. Adaptable to a wide range of temperature and terrain. Not so good around domestic pets and livestock.
This is, in essence, the message an Idaho Senate committee sent to the world Monday, endorsing this odd little bill that would require the state Department of Fish and Game to shop Idaho's surplus wolves to other states.
The bill now heads to the Senate floor; click here for Brian Murphy's story.
The bill's sponsor, Moscow Republican Gary Schroeder, doesn't expect many takers, and told the Associated Press that his bill is largely symbolic.
Oh, I bet the message will get heard. For Idaho, the timing couldn't be much worse.
On Monday, Gov. Butch Otter and the state's congressional delegation sent a letter to President Obama, urging his administration to move forward on a plan to remove wolves from the federal government's endangered species list.
“Idaho has a long and successful history of managing big game and other species,” says the letter. “We are prepared to manage wolves in a sustainable manner within our borders.”
The sad part is, I think the politicos are right; I think Idaho is ready to take on wolf management. But Schroeder's less-than-serious, carton-of-free-kittens wolf management bill seriously undercuts the state's argument.
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This bill doesn't "undercut
This bill doesn't "undercut the argument" at all. Number one it's not meant to be taken seriously. He's trying to make a point. This bill underscores the need to remove wolves from the list and manage them. Enviros can't have it both ways. Either they continue to file lawsuits and face an increasingly angry populace or they drop this and move on to something else. Once wolves are delisted and managed the current battle will subside. If enviros continue to insist on higher numbers the intensity of this will increase and get worse not better. Maybe they don't care, when you're blinded by ideology that tends to happen.
Two different things entirely
If Schroeder's bill passes, Idaho can solicit other states and obviously no one wants our wolves, so we'll get no response. It's clever on two fronts: First, it proves that although outsiders want us to have wolves, they certainly don't want to learn to live with them like we have. And second, it draws attention to the fact that we have enough wolves here and there is no logical reason not to delist. Does Obama care about a letter from Butch? I have my doubts. In fact, I have doubts whether Schroeder's bill or Butch's letter will move the needle either way. The bill however, is likely to get national media attention and it makes people sit up and take notice of the farce of keeping wolves on the endangered species list.
Good Bill
This shows that Idaho is willing to use non-lethal methods to manage wolf population.
People outside of Idaho have been telling us what to do in our back yards for years. I'm glad to hear our representatives are listening to the rural folks that are dealing with wolves in their back yards.
We have a pack just outside of our village complete with last year's pups that could use a good home farther away from people. They are getting used to us and show no fear at all.
The numbers of wolves that should have triggered delisting fit very nicely into our wildernesses. Do we really need wolves in our subdivisions too?
So...if you just spay and neuter, is THAT the solution then?
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To read is wonderful. To comprehend art. Falling back to whatever you believed in is NORMAL.
Maybe not with wolves but
it might work with our representatives. Stop reproduction of those responsible for failure.
Ironic that Bush, Cheney, & the GOP are against abortion when they are the best agrument for it.
The proposed bill states
The proposed bill states that there will be no fiscal impact, states receiving wolves will pay their way. If the bill is window dressing at best and is intended to send a message where no outside interest exists, then where is the funding source for this directive that mandates IDFG to expend resources to solicit the 49 other states to take Idaho wolves? There is a direct fiscal impact and it is to IDFG.
This legislation is a farce and if legislators want to "send a message" make in referendum form or other non-binding act. Idaho doesn't need a law stating this. This is akin to Sali proposing a bill that repeals gravity.
Stop the inane rhetoric and do something that will aid in the delisting efforts, like publicly supporting IDFG's wolf management plan.