“Mike Hudak’s Western Turf Wars—the book you need to understand how governmental mismanagement of ranching is destroying America’s public lands with your tax dollars.”
It didn’t take Washington WDFW long to act like every other state fish and game agency, where wolves call home. They’re targeting the entire Wedge Pack of 8-11 wolves, including the pups, for death, over a few cow losses, cows that are grazing on THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’S PUBLIC LAND!!
Here’s a message to subsidized, welfare ranchers. GET YOUR FRIGGIN COWS OFF OUR PUBLIC LAND! You are the problem, not the wolves. If you don’t like wolves, then round-up your cows and put them in a secure enclosure ON YOUR LAND with an electric fence. fladry, range riders and whatever else you have to do to protect your investment. It’s not the American people’s job to subsidize your poor animal husbandry practices.
How many businesses in America have their own private goon squads ready to do their bidding, like ranchers do, with sharpshooters at their disposal to kill innocent wolves? As far as I’m concerned the cattle grazing on public land are fair game for predators if the rancher/lease holder practices the Columbus Method of cattle grazing, “Let em loose in the Spring and discover em in the Fall”
This particular rancher is grazing his cows on Colville National Forest grazing allotments. The cows will be rounded up in the fall. Nuff said.
On WDFW’s website they list apparent pro-active measures taken to prevent depredations. I think they’re lame at best. The bottom line is cattle are a non-native species that pollute streams, trample native grasses and release methane into the atmosphere. Then, when their short, sad lives are over, they’re brutally slaughtered.
Wolves are native to these lands, cattle are not. Maybe it’s time to start eating less beef. The cows and wolves will thank you.
If ranchers place cows unprotected on vast public land allotments, where predators room and use no pro-active measures or half-hearted ones, why do they expect wolves to ignore a potential food source that have virtually no defenses (most ranchers de-horn cattle.) I have to ask what fantasy land they’re living in?
And yet these tiny cow losses are nothing compared to the tens of thousands of cows that die from disease, birthing, accidents, theft, etc. in Washington state every year. In 2010 alone 19, 800 cattle were lost to non-predation and 17,500 calves, totaling 37,300 cattle losses. (NASS) Why don’t we hear about that? Those losses COULD effect a rancher’s bottom line and aren’t reimbursed. Instead, a handful of cow depredations, that may or may not be caused by wolves, stirs a media frenzy. It’s only when wolves are involved that the rancher barons start ramping up the rhetoric. Do they care less for the cattle lost to non-predation? When cows die from disease does Wildlife Services show up with sharpshooters and traps?
We are subsidizing the killing of our predators. Taxpayer dollars are financing the all out assault on the Wedge Pack, because Washington WDFW is calling in Wildlife Services to do the dirty work of killing 5 month old puppies and their family. To add insult to injury we allow these ranchers to graze their cattle on our public lands for peanuts.
This needs to stop and the only way it’s going to stop is to revoke rancher’s grazing leases and force them to raise their cattle on their own property. If I have a tenant renting my house, who doesn’t follow the rules, I’ll make sure I won’t renew their lease.
The American people have the right to decide who uses our land, we just haven’t exercised that right. Organizations like Western Watersheds Project have been very successful litigating grazing rights issues. There is no reason public land grazing can’t be shut down or severely cut back if the public gets involved. Grazing cattle on public land is one of the biggest threats to our predators, specifically wolves.
Washington state has proven they are no better than Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona or New Mexico concerning gray wolves.
I encourage everyone to call Washington’s Department of Tourism and let them know how you feel about cows trumping wolves on public land. Let them know you won’t be traveling or visiting the state if they destroy this wolf pack and you’ll spread the word to your friends and family that Washington is bowing to the livestock industry.
GET CATTLE OFF PUBLIC LAND AND STOP KILLING WOLVES!!
===
WDFW Now Aims To Take Out Entire Wedge Wolf Pack
By Andy Walgamott, on September 21st, 2012
State hunters are ramping up their efforts to kill wolves in northern Stevens County, and now don’t plan to stop until they’ve killed off the Wedge Pack.
“The attempt now is to remove the entire pack,” said WDFW wolf policy coordinator Steve Pozzanghera this morning.
The agency is loading up its toolbox for the effort to take out the eight to 11 members of the livestock-depredating group, including tasking more marksmen, trappers and biologists to the area; hunting over not only calf carcasses but roadkilled deer; hunting at all hours with a fuller array of weaponery; bringing in USDA Wildlife Services for “technical assistance” on snaring; and possibly bringing local law enforcement into the hunt.
“If we’re unsuccessful, we will consider aerial gunning,” Pozzanghera adds.
http://www.nwsportsmanmag.com/2012/09/21/wdfw-now-aims-to-take-out-entire-wedge-wolf-pack/
===
Death sentence issued for entire wolf pack in Wedge area
Posted by Rich
===
Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction Of The American West
===
Washington State Tourism
Washington State Travel Counselor at 1-866-964-8913.
Monday through Friday – 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (PST)
tourisminfo@watourismalliance.com
===
Governor Gregoire
Phone: (360) 902-4111
Fax: (360) 753-4110
Website: www.governor.wa.gov
E-mail: Contact Via ‘Web Form“
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
===
Top Photo: Courtesy Mike Hudak
Middle Photo: Courtesy Molly Quinn/Spokesmandotcom
Posted in: Wolf Wars, Washington Wolves
Tags: War on Wedge Pack, Diamond M Ranch, Columbus method of ranching, public grazing allotments. Colville National Forest, non-native cattle, native wolves, wolves trump cows, wolf persecution, huge non-predation cattle losses, NASS, Turf Wars, Mike Hudak, Welfare ranching
Boulder White Clouds Council
Exposing The Big Game
Footloose Montana
Friends of the Clearwater
Lockwood Animal Rescue Center
Louise du Toit
LUPUSLAETUS
Mercy For Animals
Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance (NIWA)
Predator Friendly®- Because Wildlife Matters
Project Coyote
Project: Wolf
The Nature Conservancy
The Ravensong Group
WildEarth Guardians
Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic-Vote Our Wildlife
Wolf And Wildlife Studies: Jay Mallonee (Independent Wolf Biologist)
Wolf Song of Alaska
Wolves in english ! Les loups en anglais !
WWP's Gray Wolf Page
Yellowstone To Yukon Conservation Initiative
Howling For Justice 