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The picture above was taken in the core territory of the Profanity Peak wolf pack, which Washington wildlife managers destroyed in 2016 after a rancher dumped his cows to graze near the wolves' den and rendezvous sites. As you can see, the terrain is essentially indefensible. It is rugged, forested and remote. It is no place for cows.
Seventeen of the 22 wolves killed to date in Washington State were killed on behalf of this one rancher, Len McIrvin, who refuses to follow science-based, common sense measures to protect his cattle. Other ranchers have had great success in preventing losses. For starters, they are not dumping them in the heart of wolf territory.
But McIrvin, who has been overheard expressing his hatred for wolves, apparently doesn't believe they deserve a place to live in peace, except perhaps in zoos? He does believe his cattle should be able to graze on and destroy our public lands, lands for which he pays a fraction of market rate. And he obviously doesn't care about healthy ecosystems, which require the presence of wolves, or the fact that thousands of people want to be able to see wolves in the wild and could bring tourism dollars to struggling rural economies.
Just as egregiously, if Washington's Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) had listened to the best available science they would have known their very policies are increasing attacks on cattle. Peer-reviewed science shows that killing wolves increases attacks on livestock because it causes social disruption--it disturbs the essential role each wolf plays in its family and how and what they hunt.
So instead of protecting and preserving wildlife, Washington wildlife managers are working to protect cows. It is insane. Wolves need places to live in peace.
Yet just last week WDFW announced they want to kill the remaining wolves in the three packs they've already decimated. This is an outrage!
The ongoing silence on the part of Governor Jay Inslee remains deafening. He needs a HUGE wake up call about how counterproductive, cruel and unpopular his policies are.
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Sample Letter to Send Gov. Jay Inslee
Dear Governor Inslee,
I want you to know how
grateful I am that you respect the science of
climate change and have taken such positive action to
protect our planet and our children's future. But I also want you to know that I am
deeply troubled you are ignoring the best-available science when it
comes to wolves.
Science increasingly shows that killing wolves increases attacks on cattle because it fractures the pack's social structure. So by killing wolves Washington wildlife managers are perpetuating the very problem they say they want to prevent. They are also doing this on behalf of one rancher who is refusing to take common sense, preventive measures that have worked for other ranchers.
Healthy, balanced ecosystems are necessary for our
future prospects. They require wolves performing their
vital roles as apex predators with their strong family units
intact, as each member of a pack plays an essential role.
I am outraged that hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were
spent helping wolves recover, apparently just to be
killed all over again...and all so ranchers can
destructively graze their cattle on our public lands.
This is both a tragedy and a travesty. At the very
least wolves should be able to live in peace in
remote rugged, indefensible forest, like the area the (now former)
Profanity Peak Pack lived.
Please stop Washington's unnecessary and counter-productive wolf slaughter,
put an end to livestock grazing in unsuitable territory
, and allow wolves places to live in peace.
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Then rain fire on WDFW and tell them why you are against them slaughtering Washington's barely 100 wolves just so the state's million+ cows can live in places they don't belong until their own slaughter date. Contact:
For all that is wild and free,
Brooks Fahy
Executive Director
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"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it,
but that it is too low and we reach it."
- Michelangelo
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