Society does not desire to restore wolves.
This is much like your "world opinion" story. There is a small group of people who desired to restore wolves. They are the same people who "forced the federal government to return wolves - to the endangered species list even though Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan now have half the number of wolves as Alaska, nearly 5,000."
And they are the same people neglecting the farmer/rancher's plight. Much like you, Barker, except this one soft piece.

They were encouraging wolf lovers everywhere to call Millage and express outrage for his perfectly legal

he was deluged with an avalanche of phone calls, e-mails and hate mail

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Just shows the wacko mentality of environmental activists/extremiests/ wackos.

Each of these issues are moral dilemmas lost in the debate
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What makes you think these issues are 'lost in the debate'?
Those are some of the foundation issues IN the debate.

Farmers, ranchers, guide outfits, hunters, ALL share these issues- loss of income, livelyhood, lifestyle, and self interest.

You Barker, have just been ignoring their side, so these issues were not lost, you just were not listening to them.

Jon Peavey, of the Flat Top Sheep Company, received $680,336 in federal subsidies from 1995 - 2006 . Still weeping for the poor oppressed rancher ?

Rocky, how many wolves exist on the East Fork anymore ? And what was the backstory ? Was there any calving in December in the area ? Were the dead/frozen calves from that operation bucked into a ditch along the road - baiting said wolves into acquiring a taste for livestock ? Whose fault is that ? Wolves are tolerated on the East Fork because they were exterminated from the East Fork - is that progress ?

More often than not - livestock depredation is symptomatic - not so much of "problem wolves" - though the wolves undoubtedly enjoy 'whipping-boy' status as a result - but livestock depredation is symptomatic of a poorly run operation that lacks herders, lacks dead livestock removal, lacks any oversight & self-responsibility for the rancher's own private property. And really, why should rancher's believe themselves to have to take care of their own stock ? Environmentalists like Defenders, and public tax-payers have insulated ranchers from any harm associated with the negligence that could result in a depredation event. Defenders compensates, the tax-payer covers the cost of extermination, and ranchers are allowed to run their sheep/cattle operations as they always did - as if these predators did not exist on the landscape. Economists call this phenomenon a "Moral Hazard" .

These are the backstories that never make the headlines. But from a "personal responsibility" perspective, the very perspective Idaho Republicans & Libertarians champion - don't you think that it makes sense that this question be given fair play in the media ? Why not subject the rural-Idahoan narrative to its own ideological underpinnings in the form of thoughtful/critical question ?

The "victimization" of the livestock industry is a lie - one cannot be victimized by the natural world when one is fully aware of its threats. Instead, one can choose to put their property at risk by subjecting it to the conditions of the natural world without making accommodations via husbandry practices & preventative precautions that recognize/respect those conditions. Even so, apparently, ranchers can whine about it - with a press ready to carry the water of their self-contradictory story-line. "The western rancher : self-reliant, independent, knowledgeable of the land !!" - until you look up the subsidies, the privileged political influence, the readiness to whine, whine, whine, about the so-called inherent injustice of every last condition of the natural world that threatens their entitlement, which ironically demonstrates little more than the fact that these domestic animals do not belong on the Western landscape.

The American people chose that they wanted protection of endangered species when they passed the ESA. That is a condition that we collectively chose for lands and wildlife that belong to us all when the passage of this very important law swept through the democratic process and was codified as a matter of law. The ESA remains one of the most popular laws on the books. Environmentalists did not force wildlife down ranchers' throats - instead, re-introduction & 10(j) were championed by Western Republicans themselves, as an end-run - an political undermining - of the possibility that full ESA protections would be afforded this marvelous predator.

Rocky, if you're ever interested in the backstory - in digging a bit deeper about whether or not a herd was properly taken care of, how much subsidy a particular rancher has collected - you know who has perhaps a better idea than most. That's where the real story is at and this tired & nonsensical narrative about the perpetual victimization of the rancher to the condition of the natural world ends.

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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...

A link to some wolves just for you tree hungers

http://lelandrucker.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/pinedale-deadwolves3.jpg

NoGood, as I mentioned in my post above, posting pictures like you did above only fuels the fire for wolf advocates and anti-hunters. These have in fact been posted on wolf-lovers sites since April.

If you really are a hunter, I would kindly ask you to reconsider the effect of such a graphic photo and please edit your post and rescind the links.

If you are not a hunter and actually someone more like a PETA member, or a sheep in wolf clothing in this case, well,,, so be it.

As a hunter, I like game photos but I wouldn't call those game photos.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/325/s5030358and7.jpg

The wolves killed her brother and left the guard donkey "alive" - partially eaten.

I would be nice, just once, to read see one bit of sympathy for the "prey" from people that say they love animals,

What is missing from the discussion is how the spread of wolves into our rural communities have impacted the property owning residents of Idaho, not just the ranchers and/or hunters. We get "if you don't like it - move" (or worse) responses from people that have "no dog in this fight".

The extremists on both sides of the issue are causing more problems than they solve and leaving the "middle man" out of the equation. Most of it is all a bunch of hype to either sell news or gain donations.

In the meantime we just do our best to keep our critters safe.

So why is it that people can complain about 275 wolves being the wolf hunting goal, and not one person has said one stinking word about the 120 + sheep killed in a spree slaughter by 3 wolves in Montana.

These were specially bred sheep, everyone of them a buck, and the sheep owner is supposed to just "eat it"?

I so wish I could transplant wolves into highly populated areas. Breeding Pairs to boot. Then we all could listen to the liberals howl.

The slob Idaho redneckers will kill anything.

It never ceases to amaze me how we can live in the same country, although different areas (I am from the Great Lakes area), and be at such a 360 degree difference in thinking. I read the article about how the Great Lake area is supposedly unhappy about the relisting of wolves to the Endangered Species Act. Not so. Hey, I worked with Michigan State University on the Michigan Wolf Management Plan in 1997. This was a plan devised by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources, Michigan State University and the public. Due to disease, harsh winters with less food sources and overkill by humans, the only wolves reported in the 60's were in the Isle Royale region of Michigan. Sad as until the 1800's, the wolf range was the entire contiguous United States except for a small portion of Calif. and Ariz. Now it is limited to the Great Lakes, Alaska and the Northern Rockies. Before you call me an "ecokook", I am more a religious zealot. I feel like I am put here as a steward to protect and live in cohabitation with what all has been given me. Want an eyeopener? Sometime, if you care, visit the Field Museum in Chicago. They have a ticker device next to the door which shows how many species will become extinct that day. Maybe you aren't comfortable with the thought of being part of the blame for these extinctions but I am. Plus guess who is at the end of that extinction line - us. We are all part of a well devised system ecologically. Coming from an area about the same size as the Northern Rocky states but with a larger population, biggest area of dairy farms in the country and a lot less open area for wolves, I don't understand all the upheaval. Seems like the only reason to eliminate a wolf is because it is an inconvenience. There are other ways to manage wolves other than eradication. If other countries can control lions, cheetahs and other predators, I am sure we can. In the meantime I will hug my dog. You know, those animals descended from wolves who is man's best friend.

I forgot. Before you write off environmentalists, Teddy Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, Frank Church and a host of other environmentalists were the "kooks" that preserved Yellowstone, Teton and a host of other parks and lands which you and your children can enjoy.

would it make you guys happy if all the trees were cut down?and all the anamails were dead? your ideals are long outdated with out tree huggers and anmail lovers your world as you know it would come crashing down.show some respect for your fellow man and your mother earth.

The word "titan" means "somebody whose power, intellect, achievement, or physical size is extraordinarily impressive." In this sense, "impressive" is usually assumed to be a positive attribute.

Are you a particularly large person, titan?

Learn the facts pro-wolf people. You have been brain washed by Defenders of Wildlife and their ilk. Look at the facts (documented with pictures and eyewitness accounts) instead of the propoganda put out by the pro-wolf people. Go to saveelk.com, read the material, look at the pictures and videos, then feel free to comment on the facts instead of your emotions. If you want to see wolves, I will be happy to lead you to where you can see them. In fact feel free to spend the night there and really "experience" them.