Thrown to the wolves: wolves are being reintroduced to wildlands to drive people out, intentionally putting human life at risk for the sake of creating a UN biodiversity preserve. (Environment).

Across the nation, particularly in western states, ranchers are feeling the bite of the so-called "wolf recovery" program, which began with reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. Stemming from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), this program was followed three years later with the return of Mexican gray wolves in the Southwest, and similar initiatives are underway in the Midwest and Northeast.

As the resurgent wolf packs thrive, they are inflicting serious economic damage on dairy and beef ranchers. Notes the November 9th Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "[B]eef cattle ranchers in northwestern Wisconsin say nighttime wolf raids cost them 92 calves [in 2001] alone.... They've found calves with their hindquarters shredded, still alive and trying to suckle. They have stumbled upon a pregnant cow ripped open and her fetus torn out. They have seen calves with crushed throats--dead without losing a drop of blood. Killed, they believe, simply for the thrill." "There is a reason the farmers made [wolves] extinct before, and this is probably the reason," comments Cortney Fomengo, whose family runs a beef cattle ranch in Wisconsin.

According to the December 30th Salt Lake Tribune, the impact of wolf recovery on the ranching industry in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming is measured primarily by "an absence of calves coming home after herds graze [in] national forests." The family of Dick and Betty Baker, sixth-generation cattle ranchers in Salmon, Idaho, describe how wolves have literally intruded into their backyard to prey on cattle and sheep. Seeking to contain the predators, federal wildlife officials "got after them with rubber bullets and helicopters and spent a lot of money," Dick Baker recalled. Despite such cost-intensive efforts, "we [still] see wolves lay right up there on the bench watching the cattle and waiting for dark."

Jay Wiley owns a ranch located along Idaho's Salmon River. He points out that since 1995, "The [wolf] population just exploded, and [federal wildlife officials] have lost control." Wiley also points out that the owner of a neighboring ranch lost $12,000 worth of calves in wolf attacks during 2001. And with the feds looking to add local species such as the sage grouse and bull trout to the endangered species list, Wiley and other ranchers may be driven to sell off their land.

Heartbreaking though it is to lose a family ranch, losing a family member is incomparably worse. If not for their dog's protective instincts, the family of retired postal worker Richard Humphrey may have fallen prey to Mexican wolves during an April 1998 camping trip near Safford, Arizona. The family had set up camp in a well-known tourist location when their dog Buck discovered two Mexican wolves lurking nearby. The wolves backed off, and the family assumed that "the wolves were just passing through."

A little more than an hour later, Helen screamed for Richard to grab his rifle. A short distance from the camp Buck had become entangled in a life-and-death fight with several wolves. Armed with his rifle, Richard tried to chase the wolves away. One of them suddenly charged at the Humphreys, and Richard shot him down less than 50 feet from his family. The family gently gathered their seriously wounded dog and went to find a veterinarian. When they arrived at S afford, Richard--in compliance with ...