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Show number of prey. Wolves in Yellowstone have turned out to be a boom to the ecology and commerce of the region. In general wolves have been a wonderful addition to an otherwise depauperate wildlife and human community. However, as successful as this project has been, it has come at a cost. A recent report found that wolves rarely survive outside of the recovery area. In the Greater Yellowstone region two-thirds (22 of 30) of the human-caused moralities have occurred outside the national park, even though the borders. About half of the dead other half were illegally shot or and around our national parks wolves wolves died in the wolf spend the majority of their lives within the park were killed because they preyed on livestock; the government traps set to capture coyotes. Even in is not yet welcomed by the ignorant. In the Southwest the numbers are even more disturbing. Mexican Wolves have been reintroduced into Arizona's Blue Range Primitive Area. With a high prey base, very few cattle and even fewer roads, this would seem to be the landscape of tolerance that any predator would relish. Unfortunately it just ain't so. Of the original 11 wolves released into the wilds of Eastern Arizona 5 died and one is missing in action. All of the dead wolves were shot and the others were eventually removed for their own safety. Once again fear and story tellers have painted a target on the wolf. The Mexican Wolf is considered by many to be the most endangered large carnivore in North America. At one time it numbered less than a hand full of known individuals. The last known wild animals were captured in Mexico in 1978 and their offspring raised in captive breeding facilities in Mexico and the United States. The young were returned to The war on the wolf, like so many other “customs and cultures” of the American West, is based on a stock pile of irrational fear and illogical exaggeration. This myth is continually reinforced in order to maintain the cowboy status quo. It is reinforced by lies in a fruitless attempt to constrain the changing landscape and maintain control. They battle for one reason and one reason only. They fear this animal in a way that no animal has ever been feared. They fear what this animal symbolizes. Even though a “little red riding hood” myth once permeated most of society and found fertile ground in the livestock industry, the cattlemen truly fear the challenge the wolf makes to their selfdeclared independent life. The fiercely independent westerner, hero of the John Wayne movie, cowers in the face of the truly independent wolf. The fear is real—the wolf and other endangered animals will challenge the cultural hegemony of the western rancher. It will cause them to adjust. Like it or not it will force them to come into the 21st century. The wolf is a symbol. It is a symbol of a natural heritage equal to or maybe greater than the landed gentry, the timber baron or the logger, miner, saloon keeper and railroad . It is a symbol ef wildness and self-willed land. It is a very ancient and very valuable addition to our heritage and one that needs to be shared by all. When the wolf can no longer work the wild lands we may no longer have land worth working. As Henry David Thoreau once pointed out “In Wildness is the salvation of the world.” Rod Mondt has worked for the U.S. Forest Service and for the National Park Service at Yellowstone National Park. He has been a strong advocate for wolf reintroduction for almost a decade. the wild in March 1998; a little over a year later they were gone-—they were never given a chance. But the effort continues. After failing in the first round, the Fish and Wildlife Service For more on wolves contact The Defenders of Wildlife at: www.defenders.org BIGHORN Express is back. Better equipped, so they say, to deal with the eco-terrorists and wildlife poachers Salt Lake / Canyonlands SHUTTLE SERVICE = Torn up highways in Salt Lake City? oO o —s Flying errant golf balls in St. George? WE ARE EVEN MORE FEARLESS We now offer shuttle service from Salt Lake to St. George. that murdered the early recruits. In all fields of battle, walking point has never been an envious position. The same holds true for the Mexican Wolf. The first wolves to lead a band that will establish a legacy for the future were the first to fall. We can only hope that they will not suffer the same fate. The federal government has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to turn the tide in the war on wolves. They have spent untold millions more because they have been forced to placate a small-minded minority. While the vast majority support the wolf and most ——— __ Ss O www.bighornexpress.com _ consider it one of the great creatures of the known universe, the farm bureau and cattle industry busily continue to thwart the will of the people. In spite of the great success of the Yellowstone reintroduction the cattlemen continue to battle in the courts and Hah! | say ‘HAH’ the 888.655. RIDE criminals continue to kill on the land. SUMMER CAMPING? You say the mosquitoes just picked eee Let anaele| up your youngest child and carried design. All Trane air conditioners Reduced wear & tear. Who’s sweating now, Mother Nature? designed, him built and tested to withstand the hottest summer weather. So regardless of how hot it gets outside, it’s always comfortable inside. Call a local Trane dealer and let Mother Nature be the one sweating it out this summer. TRANE www.trane.com Its Hard To StopA Trane: Nelson's Gdeating & Refrigeration ‘1070 S. 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