Hatred toward wolves a sign of something much bigger

By Todd Wilkinson

A generation ago, distinguished biologist L. David Mech, who has studied gray wolves ...quot; and human behavior ...quot; 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 ...quot; who are moderate in their views, wealthy and poor, newcomers and old timers, city slickers and rural folks proud to call themselves conservationists ...quot; 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 ...quot; without any proof ...quot; 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 ...quot; in denying the real reasons agriculture is in dire straits ...quot; 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.''

Todd Wilkinson writes from Bozeman. His column appears here every week.

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