19
Aug
Great Pro-Wolf Letters to the Editor — Thank You!
Thank you to all who have submitted letters!
Writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper is an excellent way to raise awareness about critically endangered Mexican gray wolves and the steps needed to help them thrive. Surveys of newspaper readers show that the letters page is among the most closely read parts of the paper. It’s also the page policy-makers look to as a barometer of public opinion.
Below are some recent letters that have been published.
Let wolves roam more widely
AZ Daily Sun — August 11, 2013
To the editor:
Thank you for your article “Wolves to roam toward Flagstaff?” Just a couple of weeks ago I spent the night in your city on my way up to Big Lake to attend the Mexican Wolf Howlout, put on by the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, mexicanwolves.org, and many other wolf and wildlife advocacy groups. Many people, like me, flew in from across the nation in order to learn more about how we can help the extremely endangered population of wild Mexican gray wolves.
With fewer than 75 individuals in the wild, this is America’s most endangered mammal, one that could be lost forever if immediate action isn’t taken to save them.
But it wasn’t just out-of-area people like me who showed up. Many people from Arizona and New Mexico were there, too. In fact, surveys show that the majority of citizens in both Arizona and New Mexico support the recovery of Mexican wolves. So let’s all ask USFWS and the Departments of Game and Fish of both Arizona and New Mexico to stop up to the plate and release more wolves into the wild to increase the population and ensure genetic diversity. It’s what the majority of people want, and it’s the right thing to do.
Extinction is forever. Don’t let this happen to Mexican gray wolves.
Janet Hoben
Burbank, Calif.
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A world without wolves
The Chicago Tribune — July 30, 2013
I have been an admirer of wolves since I was a small girl. When they were returned to Yellowstone National Park I was thrilled and have made an annual trip to the park to seek out these majestic animals in this wonderful wilderness area.
I am very concerned to learn that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is bowing to the pressure from livestock growers and are currently considering taking wolves off the endangered list. The number of wolves in the U.S. is just now beginning to reach a small level of success. They are vital to assure the natural environment in our parks and wildlife areas have an appropriate balance of all species.
Why is it necessary to delist these natural predators? Why is it necessary to hunt wolves in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana? Is it for “sport”? It certainly is not out of fear for humans being in harm’s way of wolves, as they typically avoid man unless they are baited into a trap.
Hunters and ranchers want to perpetuate the misconception that wolves will attack people. There is no data to verify wolves hunt or attack people, however but we have allowed them to be included in legal hunting seasons. Is this to so people can brag they “bagged” a wolf? What a sad statement that makes about humans and how we take care of the animals that share the land where we all live.
It will be another dark day in the history of the U.S. environmental policy if wolves are allowed to be removed from the Endangered Species Act. Will we then let all animals become extinct so the only way our grandchild will see them is from a book or computer pictures? I strongly urge you to keep the wolves in our lives and on the Endangered Species list so we do not lose any more of these intelligent animals.
Patricia Pierce
Flossmoor, IL
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Edit challenged
The Mining Journal — July 29, 2013
To the Journal editor:
I respectfully disagree with your editorial that the Michigan Natural Resources Commission’s decision on wolf hunt was a sound one.
First of all, it ignored the voices of over a quarter of a million Michigan residents who signed to have the hunt put on the ballot for the people to vote on.
But before those signatures could be certified the state legislature, the governor, and the NRC changed the laws, rendering the people mute. Funny, my Grandfather, a Michigan native, never told me Michigan was not a democracy like California is.
I was actually under the impression that the entire country was a democracy and the people had a voice, True, the people did vote to give the NRC certain authority. But that was back in 1996 when the public though the NRC would represent this wishes.
This is also not a sound decision because their is no sound science behind it. The wolf population is not out of control.
There are not high percentages of livestock being killed by wolves, or any other predator. Wolves are also not harassing humans. They are afraid of humans and avoid us at all costs.
Lastly, wolves are not game. The word game indicates an animal you are going to kill and eat. No one eats wolves. This is a trophy hunt, plain and simple, done just for the fun of it.
When wolves do kill, they kill only to survive. Only humans kill just for the fun of it.
Janet Hoben
Burbank, Calif.
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Wolf politics
The Salt Lake Tribune — July 16, 2013
Janet Hoben (“Where are the wolves?” Forum, July 11) questions why Utah legislators have such intense hatred for wolves. The answer seems simple: Republican state and federal legislators have discovered that their strategy of hating gays, women and undocumented immigrants isn’t so popular at the ballot box anymore.
Hence they need a new target, besides Barack Obama, to blame all society’s ills on. So, let’s fault and hate wolves!
Jim Hill
Salt Lake City
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Yellowstone wolves
The Salt Lake Tribune — July 14, 2013
The reintroduction of gray wolves to our first national park has been described as a near-miracle, having occurred at one of those rare moments when stars align in the political sky. A wildlife conservation effort with such positive environmental impact (and ongoing controversy) will likely go unmatched for a long time.
But with the support of the American public almost two decades ago, a new chapter in Yellowstone’s history began, with a homecoming that changed the park for the better ecologically, and the surrounding communities economically.
Yellowstone officials fear that proposed changes to Montana’s wolf plan will make it too easy to target wolves that live primarily within the park. Twelve Yellowstone wolves were killed in the 2012-2013 season after traveling into adjacent areas of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
How is it that wolves can be considered worthless, when a 2006 study by University of Montana researchers found that the return of wolves to Yellowstone brings an estimated $35 million in annual tourist revenue to the surrounding communities? Sadly, the economic and ecological value of wolves remains ignored.
Maggie Howell
Danbury, Conn.
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NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO SPEAK FOR WOLVES!
Below is a recent article that is a great letter to the editor opportunity.
Wolf Expansion Plan Needs More Details
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