"Wildlife Hall of fame blogger", Ralph Maughan, recently wrote an appropriately "stinging" article about Suzy Foss and her gang of Ravalli County, Montana Commissioners who have used everything but sound science to scare residents about wolves,,,,,,,,,,and in the process, have gone about dismantling previous progress made on smart growth policies in the region............Always the wolves are the boogeyman even though less than 1% of annual livestock deaths are caused by them.......According to Suzy and her cronies, the wolves are the devil incarnate.............The true "devil incarnate" are people who adopt the approach to life that everything comes down to "us versus them"..........."Either you are with us or you are one of them"(undesireables),,,,,,, Suzy and her crew use these type of bullying tactics cloaked in some type of bizarre and misguided "patriotic rant" ..................Sort of like the propaganda that we heard from Dick Cheney during the last Administration regarding Iraq and domestic oil drilling..................Similar to the Klux Klux Clan rallies of the the 1950's.................Similar to Mr. Hitler's ethnic cleansing nonsense........................Now the question is how to combat this type of behavior so as to marginalize it so that we can extend Thomas Jefferson's "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" credo to all living creatures and not just man

Right wing Ravalii County, MT Comissioner claims wolves ruining quality of life in area

By Ralph Maughan

Suzy Foss, one of far right majority on commission, says local folks fear for their children playing outside-

The Ravalli County, Montana, Commission dominated by right wingers in this sub-division riddled part of the Bitterroot Valley has been fanning hysteria to divert attention from their collusion with subdividers, their anti-conservation ethic, and their religious pushiness, trying to impose sectarian religious notions on others.

Ravalii County Commissioner Suzy Foss has written a letter to letter to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks director Joe Maurier, the five-member FWP Commission and Gov. Brian Schweitzer listing a host of claims of bad things wolves are supposedly doing the Bitterroot Valley. She alleges a multiple of problems caused by wolves going so far as saying cattle ranches “are going under.”
Story from the Missoulian. Sept. 14, 2011

Foss, who like so many anti-wolf activists doesn’t seem to be a Montana native, owns a ranch with her husband, Lee own south of Hamilton. Their property has been the subject of complaints from eight of their neighbors for growing noxious weeds. The Foss’s refused to comply with county policy on weed control. Ravalli County Weed District coordinator Kellieann Morris said their property harbors 8 kinds of noxious weeds, but the Foss’s refused to divulge their plans to the county weed board to control the weeds despite the complaints. Story. 

The Bitterroot Valley has long suffered from weed infestation, but in recent years had been making some progress battling them. Lee Foss is also owner of Foss Realty.

Suzi Foss was also part of a three person majority on the commission to make the chair of the Ravalli County Republican Party the county planning director. Story. A number of previously turned down subdivisions were then quickly approved.

 Foss was a leader in a narrow majority (53%) to repeal the county’s “Smart Growth” policy during the last election. The result has been no controls on subdivisions.

Foss ran on a platform opposed to family planning and was one of two votes to unsucessfully defend the family planning clinic because she didn’t like birth control.

Reading the local news media, there seems to be some movement to have a recall election. Injecting fear of the big bad wolf may be part of the right wingers tactics to divert attention from their selfish, wildlife unfriendly, greedy agenda.

These reported facts about the commissioners are never brought out by the local media when they report about the supposedly troublesome wolves the commission says inhabit the margins of the area, which is on the edge of one of America’s greatest wilderness areas — the Selway-Bitterroot, and other nearby wilderness, roadless areas, and scenic, wildlife rich public lands.
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Update Sept. 15: From further research and comments, the real thing of interest and concern is how extremists moved into Bitterroot Valley and took over. Creeping fascism is the real story in the area, not wolves.

            Ralph Maughan

Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides.