Listen to Ron Gilette tell CBC’s “As It Happens” about what Canadian wolves have done 400 miles to the south in Idaho. Go to about 13:30 on your media player at this link.
It is always a kick to hear Ron, and he leaves quite impression about folks here in the Gem State. I hope my residency doesn’t it spoil it to much for him.
I can’t imagine why he doesn’t fill his cabins with visitors. Yes it’s the wolves, although I learned there were about 100 elk in the vicinity of Stanley today.
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
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Hey Ralph, could I get a copy of the handbook that Ron refers to?
Thinking about the effect Ron´s performance could have on the audience I noticed that I do not know much about wolf conservation (or opposition) in Canada. So I googled around a little bit and followed some links. But it seems there is not much going on there. Could it really be that the scene over there is relatively quiet compared to what´s going on in Wyoming, Montana, Alaska etc. ?
As I understand it, the wolf advocacy movement in Canada is in its infancy. In Quebec and Ontario there is a growing advocacy for protection of eastern wolves (canis lycaon), but in general, where gray wolves persist, they are just another wild animal-much like coyotes here. They have been killed in Canada for centuries and obviously, continue to be killed, although there is no massive campaign of extermination as there was here in the U.S. The Canadians just want to keep their populations at artificially low levels. For example, in Quebec’s Laurentide Reserve, trappers annihilate the wolf population every winter, destroying pack structures and keeping the wolves from achieving their maximum population or expanding their range. In parts of eastern Canada where wolves were extirpated, such as in Quebec south of the St. Lawrence, and in New Brunswick, the government does not want them to return-and they are a big deal-just as they are in the U.S.
John I would like to know where you are getting your information? First while there is hunting in Canada I find no information indicating that the government tries to keep wolf populations at low levels. Also the fact that Canada has the second largest population of wolves seems to indicate otherwise. I have also found no information pertaining to the fact that the government is preventing wolves from returning to the areas you indicated. So please enlighten us as to where you are getting your facts from.
Austin,
Ontario has some of the most terrible wildlife laws of anyplace. Wolves can be killed year round with (I think) a small game license. The reason why wolves are still holding on is: 1) there is no gov’t official program to eradicate them; 2) most importantly, most of Canada is so remote; 3) wolves are prolific.
In areas, like southern Ontario, where many people live, wolves are rare or absent. And this liberal hunting season is clearly preventing wolves from returning from my home of New England, to my dismay. So while the government might not actively be preventing wolves from returning to areas, the laws that they create clearly prevent wolves from getting to these areas.
Austin:
I encourage you to contact the Ontario and Quebec governments, research the status of wolves and wolf management in southern Ontario and Quebec, communicate with Canadian wolf advocates and researchers, and visit these areas as I have done over the past thirteen years. I also encourage you to look on the Maine Wolf Coalition website and other websites for information. In recent years, although the Ontario government has provided some increased protection to wolves in and around Algonquin Park, there is no such protection for animals that are trying to disperse south into the U.S. The Quebec government allows the small wolf population in the Laurentide Reserve to be obliterated every winter by snarers, and it allows the virtual unlimited killing of wolves across the province and south to the U.S. border. Clearly, the Quebec and Ontario governments are preventing the dispersal of any significant number of wolves south into the northeast U.S. Unfortunately any wolves that do evade the gauntlet of bullets and snares in Canada have inadequate state and federal protection here in the U.S, and must also face bullets from people claiming that they are killing “coyotes”. A 90+ pound possible wolf was killed by a “coyote” hunter in northern Vermont this past October. It’s my understanding that natural recolonization of wolves in Montana in or about the 1980’s began with wolves that wandered south from British Columbia after an agreement was struck with B.C. to protect these specific wolves in Canada and allow them to go into the U.S. if they chose to do so. To my knowledge there is no reserch being done to monitor dispersal of wolves from Ontario and Quebec into the U.S. and there is no such bi-national agreement to give wolves protection to allow them to reach the U.S. safely. My understanding of Canadian wolf management is that shooting, trapping and snaring of wolves is encouraged. While Canada’s provinces are not actively seeking to exterminate wolves, I believe their wolf management policies are aimed at minimizing wolf predation and preventing range expansion by keeping wolf populations at artificially low levels. This is certainly true in eastern Canada including the Laurentide Reserve and surrounding areas in Quebec, of which I am most familiar.
How could anyone in their right mind take this lunatic seriously. How sad to have your life consumed by hate especially hate for a species of animal.