Does This Look Like a Cow Pasture? Then Stop Killing Wolves, Gov. Inslee
Please contact Gov. Inslee and Washington Fish & Wildlife to demand that the killing of wolves stop. The photo above and the words below are a repost from Predator Defense Executive Director Brooks Fahy of what’s going on and what you can do.
“The picture above was taken in the core territory of the Profanity Peak wolf pack, which Washington wildlife managers destroyed in 2016 after a rancher dumped his cows to graze near the wolves’ den and rendezvous sites. As you can see, the terrain is essentially indefensible. It is rugged, forested and remote. It is no place for cows.
Seventeen of the 22 wolves killed to date in Washington State were killed on behalf of this one rancher, Len McIrvin, who refuses to follow science-based, common sense measures to protect his cattle. Other ranchers have had great success in preventing losses. For starters, they are not dumping them in the heart of wolf territory.
But McIrvin, who has been overheard expressing his hatred for wolves, apparently doesn’t believe they deserve a place to live in peace, except perhaps in zoos? He does believe his cattle should be able to graze on and destroy our public lands, lands for which he pays a fraction of market rate. And he obviously doesn’t care about healthy ecosystems, which require the presence of wolves, or the fact that thousands of people want to be able to see wolves in the wild and could bring tourism dollars to struggling rural economies.
So instead of protecting and preserving wildlife, Washington wildlife managers are working to protect cows. It is insane. Wolves need places to live in peace.
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Sample Letter to Send Gov. Jay Inslee
Dear Governor Inslee,
I want you to know how grateful I am that you respect the science of climate change and have taken such positive action to protect our planet and our children’s future. But I also want you to know that I am deeply troubled you are ignoring the best-available science when it comes to wolves.
Science increasingly shows that killing wolves increases attacks on cattle because it fractures the pack’s social structure. So by killing wolves Washington wildlife managers are perpetuating the very problem they say they want to prevent. They are also doing this on behalf of one rancher who is refusing to take common sense, preventive measures that have worked for other ranchers.
Healthy, balanced ecosystems are necessary for our future prospects. They require wolves performing their vital roles as apex predators with their strong family units intact, as each member of a pack plays an essential role.
I am outraged that hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were spent helping wolves recover, apparently just to be killed all over again…and all so ranchers can destructively graze their cattle on our public lands.
This is both a tragedy and a travesty. At the very least wolves should be able to live in peace in remote rugged, indefensible forest, like the area the (now former) Profanity Peak Pack lived.
Please stop Washington’s unnecessary and counter-productive wolf slaughter, put an end to livestock grazing in unsuitable territory , and allow wolves places to live in peace.
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- Kelly Susewind, WDFW Director, director@dfw.wa.gov, 360-902-2200
- Submit a public comment to the WDFW wolf program via wildthing@dfw.wa.govor call 360-902-2515.
- Washington State just decided to kill 3 rare wolf families – The Dodo, Nov. 8, 2018
- The wolf wars in Washington can easily be prevented – Op-ed by Dr. Robert Wielgus, The Spokesman-Review, Nov. 8, 2018
- Wolf war howls between western and eastern Washington – MyNorthwest.com, Nov. 12, 2018
- Learn more about key events in the sellout of Washington’s wolves in our award-winning short film, The Profanity Peak Pack: Set Up & Sold Out.
- Readrecent peer-reviewed science showing killing wolves increases attacks on livestock.
For all that is wild and free,Brooks Fahy
