Ranger wolves? A real howler

Some crackerjack minds in the National Park Service have come up with an answer for “ballooning elk and deer populations eating up greenery and altering ecosystems” in parks across the country: neutered packs of wolves fitted with shock collars and tracking devices!

This is just plain loopy.

Currently, the park service is using hired shooters to surgically cull deer and elk herds that are causing damage in places such as North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park. They get to pick how many animals and which animals are removed and they do it when it’s necessary.

But the idea offered up by some biologists would involve introducing small packs of neutered wolves that would be “intensively managed” to ensure they didn’t stray from park boundaries and start eating livestock. Theoretically, they could be fitted with shock collars and tracking devices to keep them in line, but national parks are no place to be tampering with nature. 

Let’s face it, there is nothing “natural” about introducing wolves to ecosystems under these circumstances.

Sounds like a full-time, expensive endeavor to us, and regardless of all the precautions, wolves — not people — would be making the decisions on elk and deer management.

THE UNITED VETERANS of the Flathead group needs some help.

The group has put out a call for volunteers to help with the growing demand for military funeral honors and participation in community events. At this time, they are critically short of the number of people needed.

United Veterans is looking for “dedicated, patriotic veterans and auxiliaries,” according to the group’s commander.

Anyone interested in serving or who wants more information may contact Jim Hiebert at 250-3287 or 862-3507.

THE COUNTY commissioners were absolutely right when they referred to Bruce Ennis and Margaret Davis’ gift of Lakeside waterfront property as an act of extraordinary generosity.

The Flathead Valley has benefited from philanthropic giving in so many ways, but it’s not every day a couple gives a park to the county that when completed will be valued at $3 million.

Area residents will be assured access to Flathead Lake for generations to come because of this couple’s donation. This park also will preserve important open space amid the extensive construction that has taken up portions of the shoreline in recent years.

We echo the county’s appreciation for this tremendous public asset.