Wolf killing has negative economic effect in Montan
missoulian.com
Montana is in a quandary concerning the excessive wolf kills. It is now a national item and looked down on by the country.
The economic effects from wolf and wildlife viewing in Yellowstone is $35.5 million annually and in the state of Montana it is $410 million; those figures speak for themselves.
The majority of the population no longer hunt and hunters are only 6 percent.
Park administrators are complaining about the changes in the hunting regs for the park. Cities around the park are not happy as it is an economic effect. Valuable research is in jeopardy from the killing of collared wolves.
Before the wolves entered the park there were 19,000 elk and the ecology was in jeopardy. They reduced the herd to a population the land could sustain and the land rebounded to a balance. To the ecology scientists, it is the standard.
Hunters blame the wolves, but part of the decline has been due to drought and a low calf ratio.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks did an aggressive cow elk hunt until 2005. Doug Smith, the parks wolf biologist, said the elk are healthier and meaner. The wolves have shifted to buffalo while other predators are eating calves. The wolves are at the lowest count and the elk woes are not wolf-connected.
Wolves are a keystone species and they are the underwriters of a balanced ecology – balance for the park and the state.
The stewardship is not good and we can't say the state is good at conservation. It is not taking care of the wildlife viewing majority.
Once again the state has enacted inappropriate regs. Wolves are the draw for the economy and wildlife viewing is the economic driver; it is a year-round activity. It's time the majority should have a seat at the table.
Cheryl Kindschy,
Helena
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