Letter to the editor: Wolf at the door

We should first set the record straight as to cause and effect. The driving force behind the transplant of Canadian gray wolves was the Endangered Species Act, a well intentioned, but too often sadly misdirected federal environmental law to keep species from becoming extinct. And the emotionally driven force behind the ESA was the host of animal rights and preservationists groups.

The tool used to transplant those Canadian gray wolves into a habitat with unlimited amounts of food was the United States Fish & Wildlife Service. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management were also brought into play. They in turn forced State wildlife agencies to facilitate placement, organization and laws to protect the wolves.

For more than a century, numerous hunter-conservation organizations have implemented self-taxation and self-regulation to preserve and protect wildlife as well as voluntary contributions of time and money to re-establish herds of big game, waterfowl and other mammals and birds. Prior to the introduction of the wolves, western America was teeming with all manner of wildlife for all to see and enjoy. No wolves were planted into New York or California.

Into this western wildlife surplus the gray wolf was transplanted. A wolf requires three pounds of meat per day just to stay alive; it requires at least 7 pounds of meat per day to live and reproduce.

A mature wolf will eat about 20 deer per year. Do the math. It is large: 70-85 pounds for a female, 90-115+ pounds for a male.

A single wolf is able to kill deer, pronghorn, calf elk and calf moose. In hunting packs of three or more, it is capable of killing grown elk or moose … or horses or cattle. Portions of Yellowstone no longer have coyotes, deer or even buffaloes.

In portions of Idaho, Montana or Wyoming herds of big game have been virtually wiped out. Unregulated growth of wolf populations has finally accomplished what PETA, the HSUS, Defenders of Wildlife, Oregon Wild and other wildlife preservationists have failed; to stop or deplete hunting. This is no accident.

Glenn D. Summers

The Dalles