An excellent article about the Mexican wolf. Ranchers fighting comeback of a predator that’s good for the land. by Linda Valdez. The Arizona Republic.
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He has been a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and also its President. For many years 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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This is one quote which represents my opinion on the matter:
“I like Tackman. But I don’t owe him a living. It’s not my responsibility, as a taxpayer and part owner of the public land, to keep somebody in a business who appears to be in direct conflict with the public will.”
As Ralph said, a very good article. And as Buffaloed quoted, we don’t owe the ranchers in the West a living. These very same ranchers claim that they are good stewards of the land. I have to disagree. Just look a most streams in the West. They are devoid of vegetation because the livestock have been permitted to graze at will.
Rick
A very excellent article indeed. I was happy to see somebody with a sensible view of the issue.
A local paper here in rural eastern Arizona has been printing a steady barrage of anti-wolf articles. It has been very frustrating to see the continued rehashing of myths and modern anti-wolf rhetoric being fed to the people in my area in the guise of “news”.
More frustrating still is that the local paper doesn’t bother with any adherence to the basic ethics of journalism–objectivity, accuracy, impartiality, fairness–and their presentation of the Mexican wolf issue has been almost completely one-sided. I sent them several letters that they somehow couldn’t manage to print. They have printed several long anti-wolf letters and only half as many pro-wolf letters. The few pro-wolf letters they did print were much shorter than the anti-wolf letters.
Anyway, it was nice to see an article by someone who understands what this issue is really all about. Thankfully, The Arizona Republic reaches a much, much larger audience than that propagandistic local paper.