Idaho gets mixed reviews in the New York Times
You win some, you lose some.
On Wednesday — one day after two wolves were killed at the start of Idaho's wolf hunting season — the Times' editorial board dropped in to criticize the hunt. Part of their editorial focused on biology. Part of it is rooted in patronizing pop psychology.
"To us, the wolf hunt in Idaho and Montana seems indecent. Hunters want to kill wolves because wolves kill elk — and the human hunters want the elk. A second reason is a love of killing things. A third is an implacable, and unjustified, hostility to the wolf."
You can bet this paragraph won't make it into many Idaho tourism brochures. It's more than reasonable to debate the science of the wolf hunt; people can disagree on these points (and for what it's worth, our editorial board sees the science differently, which is why we have supported the hunt). It's more than insulting to accuse a state of pandemic blood lust.
Idaho fares a whole lot better with a Times staffer who spends his time on the ground: Timothy Egan, the New York Times' Seattle-based Pacific Northwest reporter. He has written an outstanding column fusing Idaho's wolf hunt and unrepentantly reckless gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell.
The entire column is worth a read (hence the link to it). But I especially appreciate Egan's thoughtful comments about the way Idaho political leaders responded to Rammell's "Obama tags" grandstanding.
Writes Egan: "What followed in Idaho was rare in a year of endangered civility. The Idaho Republican establishment came down hard on Rammell, condemning the comments of a fringe candidate who channels voices that have found a wide airing in the YouTube age."
Egan suggests — fairly — that Idaho's leaders acted somewhat in self-interest, in an attempt to protect the state's national image (yup, that same image the Times editorial board managed to besmirch today). Undoubtedly our elected officials were looking to do a little damage control. But if they don't care about how this great state is perceived beyond its borders, then who will?
Reactions matter. That's why the state's political leaders were right in publicly condemning a candidate who somehow thinks it's OK to joke about hunting tags that target a president. That's why, in our Rammell editorial last week, we called on Idaho Republican leaders to denounce Rammell. That's why I give extra credit to some of the first Idaho Republicans to criticize Rammell, a list including executive director Jonathan Parker, state Sen. Shawn Keough of Sandpoint, and state Reps. Stephen Hartgen of Twin Falls and Raul Labrador of Eagle.
At this point, I'll let those reactions stand as the last word on Rammell.
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KR is Right
And so it the NYTimes.
Kr, you missed their last sentence, "It is well past time to let gray wolves find their own balance in the Rockies."
So on that point, they are correct. It is well past time to find balance. The current population is out of balance. It is too high.
****
You write the NY Times is insulting Idaho:
It's more than insulting to accuse a state of pandemic blood lust.
Perhaps THAT will be your next editorial. To not condemn the Times for their inappropriate gesture, would be comparable to the GOP leaders not condemning Rammell for his stupidity.
You DO have the McClatchy DC bureau, Kevin. USE IT.
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There is no life in Idaho...it is a mirror site on god's server. You were dreaming but it is over. Go to your residence and await our commands and THEN we will restore control...
The story that almost died
Let's wonder whether ANY top Republicans would've spoken up if we (the Idaho Democratic Party) hadn't sent The Times-News story - with its well-buried lead - around to other reporters. As it is, it took the GOP leaders nearly a day and much goading to respond to what had become national news by midday Thursday.
Let's call this what it was: damage control from a badly fractured party. The same split that forced the near-record-length 117-day Idaho Legislature is once again in view as GOP leaders scramble to distance themselves from the zealots in their midst - the same folks who engineered a coup of the state GOP central committee last year.
Eventually, Idahoans who reflexively vote "Brand R" will realize that their party has been hijacked by extremists.
I doubt anybody was hijacked...unless you add the other 49...
You make it sound as if people had guns held to their heads and as soon as that's gone SMALLVILLE will return to happy land.
That's anachronistic and makes you sound like you think they were HERDING CATTLE TO THe SLAUGHTER.
Please! I'll bet you don't mean to sound stupid, yet you do here. People believe what they wanna believe until they are hurt by their beliefs or realize it just doesn't jibe for them.
For you to make such a unified swipe, and an irresponsible, selfish one at that can't lead me to put my trust in you.
I can't. You are being outrageous and emotional and starting to resemble Re-education camps or something. If you long to be important in the Democratic Party, you're probably in the wrong state.
I don't care if you are a legislator even. Chill out and tell me what Julie Fanselow actually thinks, not a script like some Asian customer service call center.
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There is no life in Idaho...it is a mirror site on god's server. You were dreaming but it is over. Go to your residence and await our commands and THEN we will restore control...
Hey Julie, let me see if I've got this right..........
The Idaho Democrat Party sees the New York Times as a source of support and strength in telling your story? Good grief, no wonder you Dem's qualify for endangered species status!!
NEW YORK CITY???
Julie can't get air in the gills in her own pond. Forget NYT.
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There is no life in Idaho...it is a mirror site on god's server. You were dreaming but it is over. Go to your residence and await our commands and THEN we will restore control...
City folk
No where in the NYTimes editorial does it mention wildlife management, or conservation.
I know lots of hunters and sportsmen/women. I don't think any of them 'love' killing things. Most do LOVE knowing about animals and they LOVE taking part in the ecosystem that WE are a part of.
The Times statement is comparable to saying US Soldiers love killing people. That statement is just as ignorant.
That is the problem the West deals with- people in the East simply do NOT understand the environment we live in. They don't know the difference between a coyote and wolf, or moose compared to an elk. And yet they throw their money in support of cute cuddly puppies and keeping sheep off marginal public land- because they do NOT understand.
Flying Rip
This article has one huge INCORRECT assumption:
That the people of Idaho give a flying rip what the New York Times thinks of our people or our state.
Kevin Richert might have some fascination with the NY Times and their thoughts on matters in the West, as for me and mine I view most of what is in the Times as the liberal-slanted drivel it has always been.
The outright lies and
The outright lies and willful misinformation by those Idahoans thrust for blood is a disgrace to our State’s common sense and respect for the Wilderness.
The false claims that wolves are responsible for thinning elk herds are a proven to be lie! The facts are in and elk populations are in danger from human caused environmental problems, the destruction of natural food sources and extended droughts due to climate change.
Facts: Elk populations in 1984; 110,000, 2009; 115,000, Wild elk populations in 23 states are higher now than 25 years ago! Nationally, elk numbers grew 44 percent, from about 715,000 to over 1,031,000.
Better management of elk populations is the answer with Habitat enhancement projects and more land protection work.
Extermination of the wolf is not a solution it an Idaho state of mind.
Well, at least WE'RE killing the elk then, even if indirectly...
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There is no life in Idaho...it is a mirror site on god's server. You were dreaming but it is over. Go to your residence and await our commands and THEN we will restore control...
Picks for tree hugers
A link to some wolves just for you tree hungers
http://lelandrucker.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/pinedale-deadwolves3.jpg
New York City has a lot of delis yet no pickle factories.
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There is no life in Idaho...it is a mirror site on god's server. You were dreaming but it is over. Go to your residence and await our commands and THEN we will restore control...
Wolves in NYT
Interesting article and video on the wolf hunt from the Times:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/09/10/us/1247464505754/open-season-on-idaho-wolves-.html
What was NYT mixing at that time?
Hope they gave the Tavern on the Green business at least, before they possibly close.
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There is no life in Idaho...it is a mirror site on god's server. You were dreaming but it is over. Go to your residence and await our commands and THEN we will restore control...