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Patricia Randolph's Madravenspeak: Why is the DNR destroying our wolves?
“My favorite recipe for wolf is to skin it, piss on it and let it rot for the maggots. Then cash in the hide and watch people like you squirt a tear over it.” — Dwayne Glosemeyer, Wisconsin Wolf Hunt Facebook page
Dwayne Glosemeyer’s in-your-face arrogance flinging torture and disrespect for wolves at wolf advocates mirrors the hatred of wolves promoted by the Department of Natural Resources. The DNR has a flagrant disregard for science, nature, and the majority of citizens in Wisconsin.
Paul Paquet is a world-renowned Canadian biologist who has been studying wolves for over four decades. He is on the advisory/science and recovery board of the Living with Wolves organization started by Jim and Jamie Dutcher after they lived with and filmed the Sawtooth Pack for six years. The organization’s goal is to stop the slaughter of wolves. Jane Goodall and Robert Redford are on the honorary board. I heard Paquet speak passionately against hunting wolves, as a moral issue, at the International Wolf Symposium last October in Duluth, Minn. He co-signed the letter sent by UW-Madison's Adrian Treves recommending suspension of the 2014 Wisconsin wolf hunt.
Carter Niemeyer, former wolf biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, also had been converted to wolf advocacy by his experiences with wolves. Niemeyer testifies with stacks of hard evidence that wolf depredation figures are deliberately or sloppily skewed, with local trappers “investigating” their buddies’ claims of wolf predation and then adding in any missing livestock for full compensation. Niemeyer’s book "Wolfer," released in 2010, documents case after case of false depredation claims and calls for reform of Wildlife Services.
The Living with Wolves website addresses why state agencies mismanage wolf populations against the science of their benefits to ecosystem recovery. In discussing state game agencies, the "Wolves at a Crossroads" report says the fact that they are often referred to as "game managers" is an indicator of their business model. Using Idaho as an example, the report points out that the only significant revenue stream the agency can control is the sale of hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses. The report makes such an eloquent call for reform that I quote it here:
“They do not receive funding from general taxpayer dollars, which if they did, would represent the diverse interests of all Americans. Instead the revenue stream they can influence comes directly from hunting and fishing advocates. So it is their publicly stated opinion (and perhaps rightfully so) that they work for the sportsmen who pay them. Their own reports clearly say so.
“However, they are responsible for managing all wildlife in their state, not just game animals. When you are in the business of selling big game, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have predators running around eating your unrealized profits. As a result, what they manage may more closely resemble a game farm than balanced nature. And is not a model for healthy ecosystem management.”
“Current estimates are that 6 percent of Americans hunt. And it is for that mere 6 percent, and for the powerful special-interest groups that represent them, that America’s wildlife is being managed.”
Looking at the money spent by hunters, studies show that an equal amount of money is spent on wildlife watching, photography, and hiking, biking and enjoying nature peacefully. Wildlife friendly money is not directed to state agency funding for any non-hunter power. So the structure of killing license funding is the underlying bias corrupting state agencies and killing our wolves.
Paquet and the other wolf biologists on the advisory board wrote the following of wolves:
“Time and time again, we saw the great affection and care they demonstrate for one another and concluded that they are capable of not only emotion but also real compassion. This is the view of the wolf that we want to share, a wolf that is neither demon, nor deity, nor biological robot. It is an intelligent and highly sensitive animal that can be at once both individualistic and social. It is an animal that cares for its sick, protects its family, and desperately needs to be part of something bigger than itself — the pack.”
And we humans desperately need to be caring members of the “pack” of life. We are not the center of the universe but dependent on the delicate balance and diversity we are destroying.
Learn how wolves change rivers and create life-giving balance in this video. Contribute your views by participating in the North American Wolves Survey.
As the killing of 4,700 black bears concluded Oct. 7, the wolf kill is slated to begin Oct. 15, despite scientists’ recommendation to follow Michigan's lead and suspend the hunt.
Wolves need our protection. Legislators regularly hear from those who want to kill them. Contact your legislators or wolves have no voice.
Patricia Randolph of Portage is a longtime activist for wildlife. madravenspeak@gmail.com or www.wiwildlifeethic.org
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