Question for the Montana Sportsmen... not relevent to ice fishing

[i c]

Yes, wolves have and do kill people. If you research wolves on your computer, as I have, you will discover these facts about people killed by wolves:

France 1580-1830: 3,069 people.

Russia between 1840-1861: 169 children and 9 adults.

Kirvo Oblast, Russia, 1944-1950: 22 children.

India 1876: 721 people

1878: 624 people

1910 and 1915: 115 children

1980 and 1986: 122 children killed and 100 injured

1993-1995: 60 children

March 27,1996 - July 1 1996: 21 children killed and 16 mauled

This total Is 4,925 people killed by wolves, mostly children! These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. This is just from three countries. In India so many children have been taken by wolves that they have a phenomenon called "child lifting." Other European and Asian countries have records of people killed by wolves also.

So, I ask, is the shooting or trapping of wolves worse than the mauling and eating of our children? How many children do you think we should sacrifice to your wolf god? I pray to my god that you realize that the lives of people should always be put first.

JOHN GAITHER
President
Idaho County Sportsmen Club
Grangeville

[i c]

fish and game may raise the prices of licenses to offset dropping sales..
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ap_news/montana/article_dcde1660-dd51-59b1-8515-a8e0b9957576.html

[Cornbread]

fish and game may raise the prices of licenses to offset dropping sales..
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ap_news/montana/article_dcde1660-dd51-59b1-8515-a8e0b9957576.html

Saw that this morning and how they are trying to say it isn't a wolf issue. I'm sorry FWP but this is almost completely a wolf issue. Yes, it was compounded by bad management practices like cow tags when the herds couldn't support it etc. but at its very heart it is a wolf issue and we should not be the ones having to foot the bill for this as sportsmen. FWP should have to tighten their belts due to poor management practices and it would be nice if we could find a way to make the people that got wolves where they are today foot the rest of the bill but I don't think that will happen any time soon. That is what we get when we let the Federal government dictate things to the states that it is not given the power to regulate in the constitution. Now we have an ecological mess which we know how to clean up they just need to allow us to do so and I don't mean wipe wolves off the planet but we need to be allowed to effectively manage their population numbers as the need arises and to be proactive about it not reactive so the wild ungulate herds don't ever get to this point again.

[RobG]

http://explorethebitterroot.com/montana-fish-wildlife-parks-going-broke-dont-look-to-sportsmen-for-anymore-money

fish and game going broke??? no way 

Well, today I was sitting out on the ice thinking about how someone disagreed with me the other day when I said that the fear of wolves is going to do more damage than the wolves themselves. I wasn't going to explain what I meant, but I might as well now. The first thing that people are going to do is start beating up on the FWP over the wolf/predator issue. Then the politicians will jump on board (look who signed the debate session in the link above). Then the legislature will start telling the F&G how to manage our game. Then we are screwed.

If you don't like the way MFWP manages our game, wait until the legislature starts telling them how to manage it.

How do I know this? I watched it happen in Idaho before the wolves were even established (coyote, etc control, which is VERY cost ineffective). I watched Larry Craig work the wolf issue along with the farm bureau and believe me, neither one of them were interested in protecting elk. The FB insisted on hammering every grazing allotment until the banks were bare and all the forage was gone, and Larry just wanted to make elk habitat into something industry could use. I watched the Ag folks start telling the IDFG where there were too many elk. Every time the IDFG would try to stand up for habitat, whether it be fish or game, they'd get the hell knocked out of them by the state legislature. The first thing the legislature did is start defunding IDF&G. Just like the links here suggest we do with MFWP. How foolish can we be? Damn foolish, as been proven so many times.

So, I will say to everyone, please don't be blathering idiots on this topic. Take a breath and think a bit. Beating up the FWP is going to encourage the legislature to start doing the same and then the real problems will start. When you hear the politicians screaming for your vote with anti-wolf rhetoric, look past it and make damn sure they are friends of elk and not just manipulating your fears to win a vote. And look past their noise and make sure they have shown some sort of competence in dealing with wolf issue in the past (who got the wolf off the ESA?? The yeller or the doer?). Is what they are advocating even legal with the feds? Is it so extreme that it is going to get the wolf relisted? I guarantee that the ones that yell the loudest at the ones that want to put elk habitat "to work" and then blame the wolves when the elk numbers start dropping.

There is no problem you can't make worse by not keeping a cool head.

[i c]

A new wolf post i found..
NEWS FLASH! WOLVES MIGHT HAVE RABIES There is a very critical matter at hand! A wolf, convulsing in a driveway with foam at his mouth dies on a Montana ranch. The corps was retrieved by Fish & Wildlife who asked that the matter be kept silent. The ranch lady, fortunately, called Will Graves, who called me. This looks like the first case of rabies. This disease is a mayor killer of wolves, but is highly dangerous to us humans as the rabid wolf will, before collapsing, bite anything in sight, other wolves, dogs, livestock, people - all of which will come down with this deadly disease. There needs to be an alert that anybody bitten by a dog, or cat etc needs urgent medical treatment against rabies. The disease is lethal 100%. > > Best regards, Val Geist