Editor:
I don't like how the wounded wolf was tormented and killed. Not good judgment for sure.
Cody, however, is a decent hard-working family man. He was absolutely heroic in saving the life of his wife, who was in a horrific snowmobile accident.
They were the last two of a group heading back to the parking lot when she flipped and almost tore her leg off. Somehow he was able to control the bleeding and haul her back to the pickup by himself and then to the hospital. That day it was Wyoming cold. A miracle in my mind!
In 1904 and 1905 our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were able to kill off the last of the wolves. Wolves were killing their livestock and menacing families that lived on remote ranches. That was a good thing! Same with grizzlies.
When I grew up in Pinedale in the 50s and the 60s, you could go camping about anywhere you wanted without much worry. We were lucky!
In the 50s, Wyoming had a moose population of possibly 30,000. Most natives like myself love the moose animal!
When the wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone, the romantic wolf lovers were not kidding Wyomingites one bit. Things would eventually get out of hand and we knew it!
It would have been much cheaper and made more sense to put a chain link, "prison" fence around Yellowstone Park before the introduction. The expenses and the trauma we have gone through in western Wyoming so that romantics can hear a wolf howl has simply not been worth the price we've paid.
Wolves kill the young moose calves by separating them from mother and then tearing the young calf apart. To the wolf, this tender moose calf is like an ice cream sandwich is for people!
Our moose population has dropped considerably. Maybe a couple of thousand left, I don't know.
Many of the moose mothers that remain are graying up so they are close to not reproducing. It was kept quiet but one night they hamstrung 29 elk at one of our feed grounds just for sport!
Due to a hard winter two years ago, we lost about half of our mule deer. A few have picked up wasting disease which attacks the brain. Can wasting disease or rabies be transmitted to wolves?
The rich people that have purchased our ranches next to the forest boundary will be the first to find out.
I think all of you from New York and California, etc. who are signing petitions and making death threats should take care of your own problems first and leave us the hell alone.
You have done enough damage already!
Bill Johnson
Pinedale
