Hunting is a tool - and hunters are conservationists

I want to respond to Mr. Irvine’s letter regarding the glorifying of hunting and specifically his disdain for the hunting of predators. He says that we need to revisit our biology notes. Well, I thought I would do just that.

Hunting is one tool by which wildlife managers manage wildlife populations, including predators. In 1990, California voters passed Proposition 117 curtailing the hunting of mountain lions in that state. This caused many challenges for the California Fish and Game, effectively tying manager’s hands. Efforts to grow the state’s bighorn sheep populations have not been very successful. Since 1990, sheep predation by mountain lions has been the largest factor in the population declines and contributed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service giving California bighorn sheep, emergency Endangered Species status in 1999. In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reduces coyote populations in areas where they are trying to establish black-footed ferret populations.

When I was in college 25 years ago, the Wildlife Society would make an annual trip to Yellowstone Park. At this time there were about 20,000 elk in the park. There was no aspen regeneration (except in fenced enclosures), the stream banks were devoid of willows, and the riparian zones were in poor shape. After wolves were introduced, elk numbers started to drop and continued to decline to their present population of around 4,000. Wolves did what they were designed to do, and the aspens now grow tall and the riparian zones have come back and the park is healthier for it.

I love the national parks and support their mission, whole-heartedly. But the rest of the state of Montana is not a national park nor should it be managed like one. Predators certainly deserve their place on the landscape and will continue to now and forever, especially if hunters have anything to do with their management.

You see, most hunters are all about conservation. That’s why we contribute millions of dollars every year not only in our license fees but also to organizations like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited and many others which purchase habitat for the wildlife we love. When was the last time you saw the Sierra Club, Greenpeace or PETA purchase some wildlife habitat?

 I’ve never hunted lions but it’s not hard for me to imagine lion hunters actually loving lions, because I do love and hunt elk. Wildlife biologists (both federal and state), after a lot of public input, have come up with population goals for our wildlife populations, including lions and wolves. The only way to approach those goals is by hunting them.

Mr. Irvine and others would like to see Montana follow California and curtail predator hunting, regardless of how it affects wildlife populations or hunting opportunities for others. They want hunters to shoot fewer elk. Recognize that when tag numbers are reduced and harvest declines, that is what is happening.

I too have heard some who think wolves are bad and would like to see them extinct again. They are the extreme on one side, and Mr. Irvine, you’re the extreme on the other. I think Fish, Wildlife and Parks have struck a pretty good and fair balance with their management goals. The hunting seasons have kept wolves from continual population growth while their population remains relatively stable, reducing their impact on wildlife populations and livestock.

As for the pictures in the paper, I agree, hunting is not a contest or circus, it is however something to share, something to celebrate, something to cherish. So Daily Inter Lake, please keep printing the pictures, especially the kids, they’re our future conservationists.

Wollenzien is a resident of Kalispell.