EDITORIAL: Endangered Species Act must be fixed

The wolf menace continues unabated for Wallowa County ranchers. Though some people react with a degree of surprise that wolves would attack livestock and other wildlife, it is only natural, and it is a scenario played out across the northern tier of the continental U.S., Canada and Alaska. Wolves are predators. They hunt in packs and see a herd of cattle or a flock of sheep as a moving buffet. To expect them to leave livestock alone is about as realistic as expecting a teen-ager not to like hamburgers. There is no shortage of wolves in the West. The wolf population has exploded since they were reintroduced. Wolves number in the thousands in Yellowstone National Park, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Idaho and Montana have even had wolf hunts to keep the numbers under control. Based on numbers only, the wolf program has been successful — too successful. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has done a lousy job managing the wolves, to the point that governors in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana have revolted against the wolf program. As long as wolves are listed as endangered species, they cannot be properly managed. Their numbers need to be closely monitored and regulated, like any other wildlife. And when they cause problems for livestock, ranchers need to be authorized to kill the wolves on the spot, not after pleading with some bureaucrat...more