PrintWolves and more Wolves (With a Hint of Hypocrisy)
Sun Valley, Idaho has a population of about 2,000 people. Most of them are rich. Most of them are liberal. Most of them loved the idea of “protecting” the wolves that were reintroduced into Idaho several years ago under pressure from environmentalist groups.
Now that their $5,000 lap dogs and $2,000 Persian cats are disappearing (breakfast for the wolves) and local wildlife is being decimated … the citizens of Sun Valley are having second thoughts about the reintroduction of wolves (at least near their fancy homes in Sun Valley).
Packs of wolves now wander around the community and on the golf courses in Sun Valley. The wolves, it seems, are stalking the elk -- that also meander about the small town. But, apparently, cats and dogs are tastier -- and easier to kill. (A veterinarian friend of mine who works in the area told me that hundreds of pets have been maimed, killed, or disappeared since the wolves were introduced and/or migrated into Blaine County -- where Sun Valley is located.)
It is not that the wealthy citizens of the elite community don’t love Mother Nature and her wolves – they just don’t love the wolves on their golf courses and in their back yards.
In a recent town hall meeting the Mayor of Sun Valley went ballistic. Wolves were, of course, welcome in Idaho -- they just aren’t welcome in Sun Valley:
“We’ll put you [Idaho Department of Fish and Game] on notice that whenever there’s a predator around, you need to use whatever techniques to get the predators out of town,” [the mayor] said, calling Sun Valley a “no-predator zone.”
I live in Idaho and have heard horror stories from ranchers and farmers from across the state. Hey, Sun Valley: How about we call all of Idaho (not just Sun Valley) a “no-predator” zone? And get rid of all the wolves that are killing cattle, horses, and sheep in poorer, less sophisticated, areas of the state? Or would that be environmentally “insensitive?”
