Why the U.S. government is allowing bears, wolves to be hunted in their dens
I briefly got involved in wolf stuff in Washington state. Participating in the Wolf Advisory Group and so forth. What I learned shouldn&#x27;t have surprised me. Here&#x27;s the state&#x27;s wolf page: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wdfw.wa.gov&#x2F;species-habitats&#x2F;at-risk&#x2F;species-recovery&#x2F;gray-wolf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wdfw.wa.gov&#x2F;species-habitats&#x2F;at-risk&#x2F;species-recover...</a><p>(I don&#x27;t know anything about the Alaska wolf stuff covered by this article.)<p>My takeaways:<p>My state now works very closely with ranchers to manage wolves. Both livestock and wolves are tagged and tracked, to better keep them apart.<p>Most everyone involved is trying to do the right thing. It was super impressive. So different from when I worked on salmon conservation. The wolf coalition formed by the state, ranchers, and conservationists had a very hard genesis, but somehow managed to function and move forward. And most ranchers were on board with protecting the wolves.<p>There&#x27;s always that one asshole who just cannot fucking color within the lines. Our major incidents which made the news (state culling wolves) were orchestrated by a vehemently anti-wolf whackadoodle rancher who grazed his livestock right on top of known wolf dens. This one yahoo purposefully sabotaged the coalition&#x27;s efforts.<p>Our current predator management laws are pretty unforgiving and easily gamed. (As of 2017, I haven&#x27;t kept track of the reform efforts.) Whereas the state has to kill wolves in response to incidents, there are no consequences for the rogue rancher.<p>I knew ranching was a tough gig. My brief contact reinforced that view. Pre COVID-19, I speculated that most non-corporate ranchers would not survive. Futurist me thinks their salvation is &quot;artisanal&quot; meats, sold to high-end customers (yuppies at farmers markets), until such time vat grown meat makes ranch meat a premium product.<p>Adjacently, our Federal Bureau of Land Management is thoroughly corrupt and desperately needs a do-over. BLM leadership will continue to block and sabotage any and all cultural, economic, moral progress. Thereby negatively impacting everything from watershed restoration, protecting endangered species, climate change. Etc.