Wolf science | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The very moment that federal protection was lifted from wolves in the northern tier of states where they had done well, trophy hunting, leg-hold trapping, and extended hunting seasons were promoted as "essential wolf management" and "science-based."

Over 1,600 wolves have been slaughtered and the science is not at all clear. One of the wonderful qualitities of science and scientific studies is accessibility. Once a paper is published, colleagues, interested parties, even the general public are free to partake of the information, even crititique the information learned from a scientific study.

Where is the science in the wolf management that states have taken over? Just calling it scientific doesn't make it so.

Wolves need more time for all this to settle out. Let's give wolves a chance. Let's give ourselves a chance — to shed the hatred and misconceptions, apply new-found creative solutions to conflicts, and build a world that we can share, where the mystery and awe of real wild places and their creatures still exists.

Chris Albert

Lebanon Junction, Ky.