Hello Gentlemen-
Shortly, you are going to be asked to take a position on what is likely, by far, the most important issue that will come before you during your term on the Gunnison County Commission...the forced introduction of wolves into Colorado's western slope. I want to add my name to the legions of Gunnison County residents that are urging, no...imploring, you to draft and sign a resolution adamantly opposing the forced introduction of wolves. Where to even start with the reasons why?
I don't need to tell you that Colorado's wildlife is managed (incredibly well I might add) by hunters. Hunting (and its affiliated activities) adds an astronomical amount of money to Gunnison County coffers, and funds Colorado Parks and Wildlife as well. Wolves will decimate deer, elk, and moose numbers in the Gunnison Valley. Please talk to residents where wolves have established themselves in the western U.S. and listen to their experiences. Elk are already struggling mightily in the basin without wolves. How are wolves going to help them? Think of how far our moose numbers have come in the last several years, and they'd be the first to suffer at the fangs of wolves. As hunting license numbers implode, hunter numbers will inevitably dwindle to a trickle and so many and varied businesses will pay the price. Make no mistake, there will be several businesses that will not survive. On top of that, ethical hunters make every attempt to harvest big game animals as humanely as possible, and feed their families with the meat legally acquired. Wolves rip, tear, and shred...and it's every bit as gruesome, painful, and horrific a death as you or I could imagine. Surely we can all agree Gunnison County's ungulates deserve better than that?
Also remember, although the current wildlife commission is not allowed to voice their opinion, the last wildlife commission (and thus Colorado Parks and Wildlife itself) did take up the issue and voted resoundingly to adamantly oppose introduction of wolves. This is precisely why the pro-wolf folks had to do an end-around and get this issue on the ballot where CPW would be legally silenced and instead, the uninformed hordes of front range humanity will be able to dictate to the western slope as to how we will manage our own wildlife. Besides being egregiously unfair, this "ballot box biology" is an incredibly ignorant way to manage wildlife. Do any of you want to be told by a front ranger how to live your life? Me neither. No matter what your thoughts on this matter, can't we all agree that we western slope residents should be able to decide for ourselves how to manage our wildlife, instead of being force-fed wolves by folks that don't even live here?
And what benefit will the citizens of Gunnison County gain by being force-fed wolves...a warm fuzzy or a tingle up the leg on the off chance you happen to hear a wolf cry in the distance. Despite what you'll hear from the pro-wolf folks, there is NO upside to wolves. No increase in wildlife watching as folks file into the Gunnison basin to gawk at the additional songbirds or beavers we're supposedly going to attract. No "improvement" to streamside vegetation, because there will be no deer, elk, or moose to over browse streambanks (I've walked hundreds of miles of streambank as an avid fly fisher and have never seen any damage to browse, except from cattle.) What we will gain from wolves instead is a HUGE loss of revenue for the Gunnison Basin, a MASSIVE decrease in funding for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, a loss of our western slope hunting heritage, an eternal headache for ranchers (the backbone of the Gunnison Valley), and a dramatic decrease in tourism (including wildlife watchers, who mainly come to view big game) coming to the Gunnison Country.
Although this is undoubtedly the most important decision you'll be asked to make during your tenure on the commission, it should be the easiest decision as well. Please draft a resolution stating that the Gunnison County Commissioners are adamantly opposed to wolf introduction. Thank you for your consideration. Doug Dillingham Ohio City, Colorado
As I was reading I got hung up on this sentence: “As hunting license numbers implode, hunter numbers will inevitably dwindle to a trickle and so many and varied businesses will pay the price.“
Maybe something like this will paint the picture a little smoother: “As CPW is forced to reduce license numbers in our area, so many businesses will pay the price.”
Just a thought. Keith
1. I think it's kind of long.
2. I think there are parts that are 'emotional'.
By taking out, or reducing, some of the 'emotional' parts, it will make it shorter. Most people have a relatively short attention span and I'm sure County Commissioners are in that boat because of the amount of correspondence each gets. If you know your Commissioners, you should be able to tell if this is too short, too long, too mushy, or just right.
My $.02
try this ----will surely negatively impact deer, elk and moose numbers, especially the young of the year and future recruitment.
Second Paragraph, " Also remember, the current Colorado Wildlife Commission is prohibited by State Statute, once a ballot initiative has been approved by the Sec of state, to not publicly give support or non support to this issue. But the Colorado Wildlife Commission does support and is on record, (CPW Resolution 16-01) in Opposition to any forced introduction of the gray wolf into Colorado.
