Who’s afraid?

Apparently Tony Delgado from Loon Lake is afraid of the big, bad wolf. Many like him, whose fear and paranoia dominate the papers and public meetings in Eastern Washington, have started sounding loonier than the wolf huggers on the other extreme. As a life-long hunter, I cringe every time I read unfounded and delusional diatribes like this attributed to protecting hunting. Of course, if the irrational wolf haters were right that wolves were destroying hunting, ranching, and our way of life, their doomsday rhetoric would be justified; it’s not.
In reality, big game hunting in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are largely excellent throughout the wolf’s recovered range, according to trusted sources like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Likewise, less than 1 percent of depredations on livestock in those states are caused by wolves; domestic dogs kill more livestock than wolves. When you look at the facts, it makes you wonder why people like Delgado spend so much time frothing about wolves when there are so many more real threats to hunting out there, like gun control and animal rights nuts, who recruit new members every time hunters portray themselves in the press as wildlife-hating extremists.

More letters by Jeff Holmes

• Joint forest approach welcomeJuly 30, 2010
• ORVs violate hunting traditionJune 13, 2008
• Tough dam choices neededMay 17, 2007
• Address whitewater concernsFebruary 14, 2007