Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Wolf Hate: An Old West Tradition

Hatred of wolves in the American West is reaching new levels of intensity.  Wolves are confronting a cultural enmity that goes back to the white man's immigration to America, and one that is not going away peacefully. Two Montana Senators, Baucus and Tester, are using a political stealth tactic to pressure their colleagues into voting for removing the grey wolves protected status under the Endangered Species Act in Montana and Idaho. They are moving to attach an amendment (S.3864) to the spending bill that is coming up for a vote in the next two weeks. Senators that might ordinarily vote against removing protections for the wolf in a stand alone bill might succumb to voting for the measure if buried in an omnibus spending bill. Congress has never before removed an animal from the Endangered Species list. Wolves are nowhere near reaching historic population levels, and still need protection from persecution. Call your senators and ask them to vote against the measure.