Educate us.

We are baffled and need to be educated. As progressives, with politically left -leaning orientation, we always support wildlife preservation and government programs that attempt to preserve natural states of the environment, including flora and fauna.

When the wolf was reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park, we could see positive reasons for this. Media that explain the positive aspects of this reintroduction suggest that the wolves in Yellowstone culled the elk herds, which had few natural predators, and in surroundings that are protected and away from civilization this seemed appropriate.

Those who support the idea of wolves running free in Wallowa County regard wolves as protectors of the past, animal heroes who reclaim the essential Eagle Cap and bring back what once was an untamed, pristine world. Those who live here and make their living off the land have another opinion.  

Ranchers, whose livelihoods depend on the safety of their cattle, are left in a perilous position with the reintroduction of the wolf. We know these ranchers and have seen how they, more than any governmentally controlled program, are keepers of the land, preservationists who gently and consistently take the time and care to see to it that this incredibly unique and untainted valley remains so. Common sense sanctions us to strongly support them.

Ranchers are responsible for improving the environment by employing sustainable ranching techniques. With the use of rotational grazing practices, they feed their herds on native grasses, and in some inhospitable places, convert those resources into food, mostly for people who live far away in metropolitan communities. 

In ranching, artificial fertilizing and pesticides are much lower than in other agricultural practices. Since sustainable grazing improves the vegetation, an argument could be made that grasslands help diminish global warming because they are the largest carbon sink in the world.  

The worlds need for beef will double in the next half-century. Ranchers are constrained by governmental policy and are unable to protect their livestock when wolves appear and viciously attack and slaughter their cattle, destroying long days and nights of grueling work, and ultimately obliterating their livelihood, food on their tables. 

Why is it so imperative to introduce a non-indigenous species, the gray Canadian wolf, into a county where the only viable industry is ranching, an industry that enables those in cities far from Wallowa County to enjoy the luxury of food raised and produced right here in Eastern Oregon?

Educate us.

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Heimo and Kate Ladinig are residents of Joseph.