Dan's Column: Wolves

Have you read about the Yellowstone elk herd lately?

There used to be 20,000 head of elk roaming around the big park. Now, according to a biologist, roughly 4,000 animals remain. Guess what’s to blame?

Wolves.

Of course, it’s politically incorrect to blame wolves, so the biologists partially blame the weather. And maybe that makes sense to you. On the other hand, it’s reasonable to think there were tough winters back in the days of 20,000 elk in the herd. The only variable, the only change in the ecosystem in the past dozen years, is the unchecked introduction of wolves. There used to be 20,000 elk that supported a thriving guided-hunting business on the fringes of the park. Now there are 4,000.

But not to worry, according to biologists. The 20 percent of the herd that survived the wolf onslaught is, in his words, “looking really good. We’ve got a leaner, meaner elk herd.”

So here’s a question: if 80 percent of the elk are gone, do they need the same number of biologists on staff? Of course not. Why don’t they eliminate 80 percent of the biologists and support staff jobs in the park and in surrounding national forests? A government job shouldn’t be a guarantee of a lifetime job. If the elk are gone, the biologists should be gone too. Let them try the wonderful world of private employment.

Besides, the 20 percent of the biologists who keep their jobs would be “looking really good.” They’d have a “leaner, meaner” corps of biologists. If it makes sense that fewer elk means better elk, the same must hold true for those who make their living on taxpayer dime studying the few surviving critters.

Take the payroll savings and hire professional wolf hunters. In a few years, perhaps, that Yellowstone elk herd would be back to 20,000 animals. Fewer wolves means more elk. More moose. More deer. And perhaps the opportunity for your grandkids to hunt something besides gophers.

Think about your favorite hunting spot. Have you seen fewer elk and more wolves? Has 80 percent of the herd in your neck of the woods been devoured by wolves, as they were at Yellowstone?

Are you going to wait until your favorite canyon or clearcut is a big-game desert before you, personally, do anything about it?