Well here we go again with another season of Get out there.
Last time around this column encouraged students to get into the woods and hunt. There were lots of tips and tactics I’ve found useful, and even a couple stories from my own adventures. The point was to express that hunting and other outdoor adventures are still possible during college.
While I am proud of the life of the column under these guidelines, I feel that I left that horse beaten to death about a mile back up the trail. It’s time to address the issues facing outdoorsmen not only in our little redneck area of the world, but on a national, and even global scale.
I love hunting stories and giving helpful hints, so I’m sure there will still be a few tales of success and tactics, but it’s time to have a hand in people understanding the outdoor issues of the time.
First up is a topic I’ve skirted around for too long — wolves.
I chose to stay away from discussing these hot button predators because they may discourage people from experiencing the outdoors or reading my column. But I can’t evade this any longer. It surfaces in the small bars of Troy, and what seems like every class I take. People are talking about wolves.
Troy locals sit swilling whisky and PBR, glumly reminiscing of the last time they saw an elk. In class, professors discuss the continued court battles fighting the wolf hunt. This issue has turned into what I can only compare to an ugly puppy dog, following me everywhere. So I give up. I cave. Here’s my take on the reintroduction of wolves into Northern Idaho.
The North Idaho population of grey wolves has far exceeded primary goals set at the time of reintroduction. These wolves, not unlike other game species, are in need of population management. Without population control wolves are a danger to surrounding wildlife and livestock, and the stainability of the North Idaho wolf population itself. So, what is an acceptable means of controlling the North Idaho wolf population? Having assessed the various means of population control, hunting has proven to be the most sustainable and profitable means of controlling the population of grey wolves in North Idaho.
In the modern world of the human expansion, i.e. urban sprawl, the need to manage wildlife in order to minimize the conflict between humans and surrounding species has arisen. In other cases, human impact on the introduction of a species has created a need to control a wildlife population for the betterment of the entire ecosystem. This is the case in North Idaho.
Reintroducing this species into a wilderness area ecosystem that had been without a competitive super predator such as the grey wolf disrupted the stability of every species in the ecosystem.
The grey wolf’s impact on big game species combined with the human impact already present there increases the possibility of the predator pit hypothesis taking effect.
The predator pit hypothesis, as discussed in the 2006 article by Victor Van Ballenberghe published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology, is a situation when an abundance of predators causes the downfall of the entire ecosystem. The hypothesis discusses how the predators eventually eat all surrounding prey, causing an imbalance in the ecosystem leading to the eventual death of all species in the area, including the predators. One proven successful means of stopping this predator pit is to reduce the impact predators in the ecosystem have on the prey animals by controlling the predator population.
In Alaska, for example, predator populations are closely managed in order to maintain the high levels of big game species the area is known for. The state does this by providing residents with ample availability of hunting tags for grizzly bears, as well as allowing the use of hunting from helicopters and planes to harvest wolves. These practices ensure that the population of any one species does not reach a point that would represent a danger to the rest of the ecosystem.
Allowing hunting to be used as the primary predator management tool will provide the government and state with increased revenue through the sale of hunting licenses and harvest permits. According to the Idaho Fish and Game website, Idaho raised more than half a million dollars of revenue through the sales of non-resident grey wolf permits. This money can be used to support the growing needs of Idaho wilderness and wildlife.
As is the case with most wildlife, given the human impression we have left and continue to leave, there is a need to manage the population of grey wolves in North Idaho wilderness areas. Without management, the density of these super predators will reach a level that will have a negative impact on surrounding wildlife and livestock. Eventually these levels will reach a point at which the entire ecosystem will fail. In order to avoid this failure, as well as provide the government and state with added revenue, population control through hunting is the most applicable course of action.