What's Worth $9.75?
A wolf. Or least a wolf hunting tag if you're an Idaho resident.
Bad, right? Yes, but it's not really as simple as it first appears.
As you may already know, the federal government is preparing to remove Rocky Mountain wolves from the the Endangered Species Act, probably this year or next. (The re-introduced wolves have been exceeding recovery targets since 2002.) When "de-listing" occurs, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming will initiate a regulated wolf hunt. This, by the way, is a certainty. There is virtually zero viable opposition to wolf hunting in those states.
So the question for those of us who think restored wolf populations are a good thing for the West (see here, here, and here for a few reasons why), is how to make wolf hunting as beneficial as possible. The good news is that there are ways to do just that.
The first step is recognizing that the biggest threat facing Rocky Mountain wolves is not hunting. It's idiocy (cf. Idaho's Governor C.L. "Temper Tantrum" Otter). That is, the future for wolves depends on whether people treat them as wildlife to be protected and managed, or whether they're hated.
To date, a handful of Westerners have behaved like denim-clad Little Red Riding Hoods, wailing and shrieking at every mention of a wolf (cf. almost everyone in Wyoming politics). A well-managed hunt, however, can be an effective antivenin to their hysterics.
