Wolves are officially an endangered species in California. Natalynne DeLapp of the Environmental Protection Information Center confirmed this afternoon. That three of four California Fish and Wildlife commissioners approved the listing.
“It’s a good day for wolves in California and beyond,” Delapp said.
PREVIOUSLY:
Close to 200 people filled the conference room of Fortuna’s Riverlodge conference room this morning to attend a California Fish and Wildlife Commission public hearing on the topic of large predators. Included in the itinerary was public comment on whether or not to list the Gray Wolf under the California Endangered Species Act. The cro
wd, which quickly spilled out of the conference room, sported a proportionate mix of furry “wolf-ear” beanies and cowboy hats, illustrating the wide schism between local ranchers and environmentalists on this issue.
“It’s hard to find a species in the West that provokes more passionate opinion from such a diverse range of people for more different reasons,” said Chuck Bonham, Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, “Before we open for public comment I ask that everyone keep it civil. At the end of the day we’re all Californians.”
His call for civility was pertinent as public understanding and opinion of the gray wolf’s role in California’s future is an area with limited common ground. Some see the gray wolf’s listing as a non-issue as the species does not have a presence in the state, but the recent migration of a gray male wolf dubbed OR-7 across the Oregon border into Northern California has raised concerns that the wolves may be expanding their territory. As early as this morning a Portland-based news affiliate reported that OR-7’s mate had a litter of pups in the Siskiyous. The effect of wolves on livestock is a hot-button issue in many other states in which wolf packs are active, including Montana and Wyoming.
Bonham says that the department anticipates there will be an active wolf population in California within the next decade.
To this end, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife prepared a Wolf Management Plan. The management plan would include reparations for lost livestock and opportunities to manage the species through hunting. Many in favor of listing the wolf as an Endangered Species expressed the opinion that this is an inadequate response to the wolf’s re-emergence in California, and they fear that, unprotected, wolves will be poisoned, shot or otherwise killed. Many livestock owners fear that if the wolf is listed as endangered they will have no way to defend their livestock against predation.
Public comment on the issue topped three hours and was punctuated by bursts of applause and the occasional exasperated sigh from either side. It included statements from local ranchers, activists, scientists, 1st District Supervisor Rex Bohn (against the listing), 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace (for the listing), small children in furry hats, two speakers who burst into tears and at least one song.
“The wolf is a killing machine,” said Supervisor Bohn.
“The wolf is a mother of us all,” sang a pro-wolf supporter.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s decision regarding the gray wolf will be decided at a later date.
This article appears in ‘Bye, Folks!’.
In doing their due diligence a journalist worth their salt would have found it pertinent to point out that California Tax Payers shelled out $300,000 for this report whist severely cutting spending on social services. Hear me now, believe me later, this Wolf Cult is going to cost us dearly.
Yellowstone Wolves bring an estimated $7-10 MILLION Dollars in annual tourism revenue… that is not even the 1st thing on a LONG list of improvements coming BACK to California on the backs of these intelligent and impressive animals. The benefits of this particular keystone species FAR outweigh any negative impact they have. This “Wolf Cult” is not only saving the environment, it’s restoring this state in ways you could never imagine!
A wolf wanders looking for a pond, rich in algae to support a centralized food chain. To have litter.rich beginning, better bugs and animals.necessary microbial intermediates invisable.if feedstock is weak(missing elements, ground rock)like nowadays, there’s very little rocks grinding uphill.miraclegrow will turn pond green but lack everyother element.instinct for nutrition wanders the wolf, and whale.mineral plankton was mined before, hohokam bloomed algae, civilization bloomed around a nutritional richness.manhas lost his Iinstinct.now the wolf looks at us with eyes shifty, like a coyote.
Authorized as an Act of Congress, the Yellow Stone National Park wolf reintroduction is a perfect case study of “adaptive management” gone wrong. Although the goals and parameters could not have been better defined, x numbers of animals in a given area, predator/prey dynamics are cyclic, and in the absence of hunting, these overstocked parklands no doubt provided an early and unexpected boost to wolf populations.
Alas, feel good biology and the law of unintended consequences. Failing to take into account the possibility that populations would recover too fast, there seems to have been no existing plan how to deal with such a situation. Flocking to catch a glimpse of a wolf, visitor rates increased, and so did Park revenues; that ungulate populations in the park were plummeting was less of an issue. It was not until wolves started seeking prey outside the Park that the locals started to take notice.
“Wolves do not need wilderness or protected lands to thrive, but they do best and there are fewer wolf-human conflicts in large blocks of wildlands that are not used for intensive livestock production.” That is a quote from TWS official paper on wolf policy, but I challenge anyone to find an example where endangered species protection has been applied to a population of one.
It’s ironic that just as the USFWS has de-listed this species under federal law, Californian’s have listed it under their own endangered species act. A better-informed journalist would have noted that State listing differs significantly from federal listing in that it does not afford the same type of blanket protection against incidental take of individuals. Limited to animals within the population’s current range, I fail to see how anyone can argue that it should include the entire state. Whilst pro-and anti-wolf lawyers are gleefully rubbing their hands together, the losers will no doubt be California’s rural populations. Yuba, Glenn, Tehama, Siskiyou and Modoc Counties have already voted for succession, but they will not be the last.
Although the stupidity of comparing northern California to the Greater Yellowstone Complex in discussing wolf ecology speaks for it self, the notion of estimated tourist dollars is interesting. The same was said concerning Headwaters Forest and the second Redwood Park take. Sure enough, the Redwoods are a significant source of tourist income, but ecological value aside, the Headwaters Forest seems to have cost the community economy more than it has contributed. As far as the economic contribution of Redwood Park, a trip through Orick speaks for itself.
I submit that any tourist coming to the north coast to see wolves would be sorely disappointed as by all indications wolves were very rare in western part of the State. Having found no evidence of wolves in Humboldt County, one can be certain that wolves were rare in the Redwoods, if they existed at all.
JurekWolfCalifWMDPaper.pdf
Brain-dead Bohn makes another wanker statement. Hey Wrecks: wolves aren’t the killing machines on this planet, that would be humans. For every cow or sheep that wolves kill for sustenance, humans kill tens of thousands. Wow, where do these morons come from? We need to get rid of these Bohners and Bassholes that have somehow managed to get elected. (I’m afraid that doesn’t speak well to the intelligence of this nation. The Republicans’ plan to gut the educational system since Wrongald Raygun has worked! Idiotic Republicans can now get elected.) [EDITED]