And out come the wolves…
Politics are funny and if you need a laugh, simply turn to the legislators in Idaho for real hysterics. In case you missed it, Hucklberries posted an online poll, asking “What scares you more: the Idaho Legislature in the Statehouse or wolves in the forest?” The legislators won, 74 percent to 10 percent.
This was just in time for the passing of House Bill 343, which would allow the governor to declare a wolf emergency and ask city and county law enforcement officers to hunt down the predators.On Tuesday, the House passed it 64-5, then it moved to the Senate Resources and Conservation Committee which approved it 7-2 on Wednesday.
Here's where it gets silly.
The Twin Falls Times News had a great editorial yesterday on the bill.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, said residents of her west-central Idaho district are scared of wolves. Rep. Lenore Barrett, R-Challis, said, “The wolves eat better than anyone else in Custer County,” and threatened to weep if the House didn’t pass the bill.
It’s reality check time, folks. This state has 705 wolves, or one wolf for every 119 square miles.
No wolves have been documented attacking humans, but the predators kill dozens or hundreds of sheep, cattle, hunting dogs and wild game including deer and elk annually. There’s currently a proposal in Washington, D.C. to lift federal protections from wolves, and an agreement is in the offing to allow the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to resume managing wolf populations.
Any governor would need his head examined if he invoked HB343, sending cops traipsing off into the backcountry while there are real criminals on the streets. But Idahoans need not worry: As state Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, pointed out, the legislation is almost certainly unconstitutional, and if passed by the Senate and signed by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter will eventually be thrown out in court.
So there you have it. A waste of time and money. Not to mention the wolves. The gray wolf is an endangered species - historically, wolves were found throughout most of the region but were removed by the 1930’s through targeted trapping and hunting, with the exception of a few individuals dispersing periodically since then. Like the one wolf for every 119 square miles in Idaho.
