But as member of the environmental organization side of this argument I feel I should say something here. To begin with, there has been over a decade of environmental organizations offering up discussion on changing policies to include wildlife watchers and general outdoor enthusiasts to the PR funding but that set of offers always falls on deaf ears as the policy makers in the wolf inhabiting states would rather bitch about how they are victims of the presence of wolves than work out a solution that is more inclusive. I was there in the room during many of these conversations with state legislators and was basically told to sit down and shut up every time.
Most of the NGOs advocating for public land health and well being of a still on the ground but not legally endangered species are and have been willing to compromise from the very start only to meet with opposition from those who dredge up mythological and romanticized "tradition" as the basis of their argument and resort to death threats and character assassination when that doesn't work.
The NGOs advocating for predators on public lands have been paying into the Defenders funding system though Defenders takes the naming rights to it. An organization I was an executive of for years contributed thousands of dollars over the years as well as many more thousands for research on mitigation and management practices based on empirical evidence with academics. Many of these organizations just don't get much press because... wolves eat things made out of meat and we love our cows as pets up to point when we sell them for slaughter.
I have wolves and bears outside my door on any given night or day and I have no fear of them, but I do respect them and their right to exist in this habitat that is theirs first and mine tentatively.
The wolf is not the big bad predator many like to give them credit for, they get blamed for a lot of things they don't actually do and a lot of livestock producers could do their jobs better and stop insisting we taxpayers pay for all their business losses and subsidize their businesses.
Looky here:
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2013/12/02/predator-defense-exposes-usda-wildlife-services-in-new-video/
#t=91
This part has to change before more tax dollars are collected. I'm not against a tax on my outdoor gear to protect the wildlife and public wild lands that I enjoy, but I want this species of predator (USDA WS) controlled first.
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