Idaho's Worst Fears Are Coming True

Am I the only person left who thinks that wolves should be on the endangered species list (ignoring the fact that an "endangered species list" shouldn't exist)?

Apparently I'm not:

Idaho's governor said Thursday he will support public hunts to kill all but 100 of the state's gray wolves after the federal government strips them of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Am I the only one that thinks that this article reads like a joke? Can he be seriously saying this as a politician?

The 100 surviving wolves would be the minimum before the animals could again be considered endangered.

"I'm prepared to bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself," Otter said earlier Thursday during a rally of about 300 hunters.

Me too.

Otter complained that wolves are rapidly killing elk and other animals essential to Idaho's multimillion-dollar hunting industry. The hunters, many wearing camouflage clothing and blaze-orange caps, applauded wildly during his comments.

Suzanne Stone, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife in Boise, said Otter's proposal would return wolves to the verge of eradication.

Apparently Suzanne wasn't paying attention at the rally. That's the point.

"Essentially he has confirmed our worst fears for the state of Idaho: That this would be a political rather than a biological management of the wolf population," Stone said. "There's no economic or ecological reason for maintaining such low numbers. It's simple persecution."

God save Idaho! Our worst fears have come to fruition.

"You don't want to be too close to 10 [packs of wolves] because all of a sudden when one (wolf) is hit by a car or taken in defense of property, you're back on the list," Allen said.

Ha ha.