In response to Connie Dunham’s opinion article (June 1, Chieftain), I feel her anxiety. Ever since our mother read us “Little Red Riding Hood” we seldom go far from the house.

Canadian wolves were not aware of state or country boundaries, they traveled at will. If Canadian wolves are so fearsome I puzzle that any livestock ranches survive in Canada.

So according to Google and other studies by Western Wildlife Outreach, “wolves are extremely wary of humans, not aggressive toward them by nature”, “wolf attacks are the rarest of all large predator attacks.” Google Facts: “In North America there have been only 41 nonfatal wolf attacks ever recorded.” However, dog related fatalities 1982-2010 number 324!

So … Yellowstone biologists tell us face to face, and in numerous written articles, that wolves in the park have thinned the herd, made it healthier while trees and brush that now shade creeks and rivers help cool the waters for better fish habitat. It’s hunters looking for trophies that are responsible for harming the gene pool by harvesting the biggest and best animals.

The overall picture here is that powerful rancher lobbyists have aided ranchers for over a hundred years, allowing them cheap forage on public land and providing a U.S. Fish & Game Deptment to hunt and kill wildlife predators by the thousands, protecting livestock at public expense.

I sincerely urge reading “Welfare Ranching, The Subsidized Destruction of the American West.”

Boyd McAvoy

Joseph