A generation ago, distinguished biologist
L. David Mech, who has studied
gray wolves
- and human behavior - for decades in North
America predicted the second coming of crackpots.
There is no need to name names. We know who
these people are, the individuals who spin
elaborate, sometimes slanderous, yarns
about conservationists plotting to "lock
Americans out of public lands;" allegedly
scheming to lure the U.S. into a "one-world
government" headed by the United Nations;
and finally, to drive all rural people off the land.
Sure, there may be some nut cases who
subscribe to these radical notions, but they
are fringe. Among the majority of
level-headed local citizens I know - who
are moderate in their views, wealthy and
poor, newcomers and old timers, city
slickers and rural folks proud to call
themselves conservationists - they recognize
the rhetoric for what it is: Pure rubbish.
Sadly, although the inventors of conspiracy
theories would be laughed out of court if
forced to present their assertions before a
judge, some newspapers allow them to
publish them as unscrutinized fact.
They hate wolves. They hate grizzlies.
They hate government (except federal
subsidies). They hate public education.
They hate any law which constrains
their "personal liberty." They hate people
who do not share their religious beliefs.
They hate anyone who disagrees with
their world view, and they proudly teach
hate to children. But who are these
people, really?
Hatred of wolves could be a symptom
of something else: Fear of losing control
over things in our lives which inherently
are beyond control.
We cannot control our bodily imperfections;
we cannot control the weather;
we cannot control commodity markets;
we cannot control decisions our kids
ultimately make; and we cannot control
a changing world. In the end, we have
power over little, but we can decide
whether or not to dispense hate.
Is it wrong for ranchers to fear the
economic impact of wolves on their
livelihoods? Of course not. But is it
legitimate for the agricultural community
to focus on wolves when there are other
much larger challenges facing rural
America?
Shortly after Canadian wolves were
turned loose in Yellowstone and
north-central Idaho, Mech knew hatred
toward wild nature would flare again.
He knew wolf haters would be out in
force predicting - without any proof -
the long-term decimation of livestock
and game herds. He knew they would
hatch tall tales asserting that wolves
would terrorize people and pets in towns
where they live. He knew this because
among some people, hate sells.
In reality, ranchers know too well that
only a tiny number of their brethren
will be affected by wolves, compared
to the majority of rural folk bracing
against things seemingly beyond their
control, like a national food policy that
hurts producers, global trade, drought,
soil erosion, noxious weeds, commodity
monopolies, and ranch kids leaving
for the city.
Yet these same ag leaders - in denying
the real reasons agriculture is in
dire straits - focus irrational hatred
toward wolves.
In Mech's Minnesota, where the
largest population of wolves exists in the
Lower 48, citizens already have
confronted the hysteria. Contrary to what
wolf haters say, wolves have not
decimated the state's famous whitetail
deer population or livestock herds.
Wolves are spreading beyond the north
woods, but citizens there have a plan
for managing wolves which roam into
farm country.
"Unfortunately there still exists in
certain segments of human society an
attitude that any animal [except man]
that kills another is a murderer,"
Mech writes in his book, "The Wolf."
"To these people, the wolf is a most
undesirable creature.
"Once blinded emotionally by such
hate, the anti-wolf people fail to see
that the wolf has no choice about the
way it lives; that it cannot thrive on
grass or twigs any more than man can.
To them the wolf pack is a cowardly
assemblage of wanton slayers, the
animal's howl a bloodcurdling condemnation
of all the innocent big game in the
country.
"These people cannot be changed.
If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters
must be outnumbered. They must be
outshouted, outfinanced, and outvoted.
Their narrow and biased attitude must
be outweighed by an attitude based on
an understanding of natural processes.
"Finally," he adds, "their hate must be
outdone by a love for the whole of
nature, for the unspoiled wilderness,
and for the wolf as a beautiful,
interesting, and integral part of both."
