Conservation is wise use without abuse

This letter is written in support of the Idaho Fish and Game Department, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, and Tony McDermott in particular, and the wolf management plan for the state of Idaho.

A simple definition of conservation is “wise use without abuse.” Wildlife conservation is based upon this premise: wildlife resources can be controlled without exterminating those same resources. Three modern examples follow: Whitetail deer in 1900 numbered approximately 500,000 in the U.S. Today’s count puts their population at 20 million plus. The elk population in 1900 numbered less than 100,000. Today there are one million plus. The Canadian goose was approaching extinction in the early 1900s. Today they number in the millions — one of wildlife management’s greatest success stories. In each of these cases the numbers of wildlife increased dramatically through the efforts of conservationists and professional wildlife managers, such as the Idaho Fish and Game Department, and the revenues from sportsmen.

To state categorically that the same Idaho Fish and Game Department has set eradication of the wolf population in Idaho as a goal is based on misinformation. The Idaho Fish and Game Department’s goal is, in fact, to manage the wolf population for the benefit of the wolf and other wildlife within the forest ecosystem. By designating the wolf as a game animal, tags will be offered, and those revenues can be used to help ensure a healthy wolf population (and that of the animals they must have to survive, such as elk and deer.)

On the flip side, to state categorically that the Idaho Fish and Game Department has set the protection of the wolf populations above all other considerations, regardless of the impact on the ecosystem and its inhabitants, is equally based on misinformation! The belief that a managed wolf population will eat every mammal on four legs in the state of Idaho demonstrates how emotional this issue has become. As stated earlier, a balance is possible and desirable through the premises of wildlife conservation.

The Idaho Fish and Game Department has collected more knowledge and data on the wolf than any group in the state. Wildlife management professionals are employed by this organization and spend months of the year in the field gathering data on a myriad of animal populations, both game and non-game. “In the field” is the key phrase. For both sides of this emotionally-charged issue, reading questionable information on the computer screen is no substitute for firsthand experience and scientific investigation.

The wolf is a beautiful animal. However it is an animal and no better or worse than any other animal in the forest, such as the bear or the cougar, which have benefited from knowledgeable wildlife management within the state of Idaho.

It is time now to end the emotionalism and realize that there is no anti- or pro- “wolf conspiracy” within the Fish and Game Department’s wolf management plan. Let’s all work together logically to provide proper habitat and management for each of the animals we are so fortunate to have here in Idaho. Let the professionals do their jobs!

BUD LANG

CHRIS LASSEN

Sandpoint