Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Wolf management plan divides locals

Just about everyone in western Wyoming agrees things will change if a long-awaited wolf agreement between the federal government and the state is approved. But there are drastically different viewpoints from local residents about whether the area will benefit from or be hurt by the plan, which would remove the state’s roughly 340 wolves from the endangered species list and put them under state control. Ranchers and outfitters say state management of wolves, which would allow unregulated killing of the animals in all but the northwest corner of the state, can’t come soon enough. Wolves have killed off their livestock and decimated moose and elk herds in the region, they say, and the federal government has, until now, prevented them from doing anything about it. But Teton County officials and business leaders worry that allowing wolf killings would generate bad publicity and hurt the region’s vitally important tourism business...more

So you have "businessmen" promoting and profiting from a government-owned asset, while that same asset is inflicting economic injury to other businesses. How admirable.

1 comment:

johnr said...

It would be better for the state if Teton County was absorbed by Yellowstone Park and came under the rule of the feds since most of the residents of Jackson are from California anyway, and their liberal thinking would be a better fit with the feds.