Diana Tittle, a member of the board of Sierra County Public-Interest Journalism Project, was the editor of the Sierra County Sun, the Citizen's precursor. A former resident of Truth or Consequences who now lives part-time in northern New Mexico, she spent her 42-year professional career in Cleveland, Ohio, where she worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine writer and editor, book author and publisher and publishing consultant. She is the recipient of a Cleveland Arts Prize for Literature.
Here is the wolf issue again after years of pointing fingers back and forth – both sides, the ends defined by the Dominionist Christians and rabid ecowarriors. Both extremes depending on the other to further their goals. After the massive fires this summer underscored the complete disconnect between the Forest Service and the ecosystems they are tasked to nurture. (Having contracted with the USFS for years, I have experienced this first hand.)
The wolf issue would be solved by predator control dogs, used for centuries to protect livestock. This and breeding/training herd dogs would also create a local industry and expertise that is about to be gone.
But the ranchers (some) make money and the activists (Agenda 21/30) gain followers.
I have been advocating running large goat herds to restore the watershed (we are the only ones who use the word shed everyone else uses catchment).
Aldo Leopold said that ‘the same tools used to destroy the Gila, will one day save it’ Properly managed livestock guided by aware herders, convert the fuel load into protein, encourage the grasses and return the water to where it is made.
Google “The man who planted trees” and read his story. One man restored the forests in eastern France after the WW1 destroyed all the trees all the trees.
The solutions are available if we think outside the box and have the control over our land.
Besides livestock guard dogs (and one concern I have about those is that some breeds are bigger than Lobos and there is a risk that they can overpower and kill these endangered animals. If a livestock guard dog kills a wolf in the wild, their owner should be just as liable for that death as if they’d killed the wolf in person. Also the effect on other wildlife and recreationists needs to be examined. What if a livestock guard dog kills my dog while we are out hiking on public land? What if a livestock guard dog kills an elk calf or other wildlife? ) But I digress, human presence as in range riders are a good deterrence against wolves too. Timing calving so all the calves are born in a narrow window makes it easier for their owner to monitor them when they are most vulnerable. Choose cattle breeds that are extremely protective of their young calves. Have cows with horns rather than without gives them better ability to protect themselves in the wild. Put the cows in pastures where they aren’t being set up to be preyed upon by wolves, such as those denning and raising pups. The cows we are talking about are on public lands in wild places where natural processes and native wildlife should take precedence. But there is much that livestock operators can and should do to minimize the impacts.
Here is the wolf issue again after years of pointing fingers back and forth – both sides, the ends defined by the Dominionist Christians and rabid ecowarriors. Both extremes depending on the other to further their goals. After the massive fires this summer underscored the complete disconnect between the Forest Service and the ecosystems they are tasked to nurture. (Having contracted with the USFS for years, I have experienced this first hand.)
The wolf issue would be solved by predator control dogs, used for centuries to protect livestock. This and breeding/training herd dogs would also create a local industry and expertise that is about to be gone.
But the ranchers (some) make money and the activists (Agenda 21/30) gain followers.
I have been advocating running large goat herds to restore the watershed (we are the only ones who use the word shed everyone else uses catchment).
Aldo Leopold said that ‘the same tools used to destroy the Gila, will one day save it’ Properly managed livestock guided by aware herders, convert the fuel load into protein, encourage the grasses and return the water to where it is made.
Google “The man who planted trees” and read his story. One man restored the forests in eastern France after the WW1 destroyed all the trees all the trees.
The solutions are available if we think outside the box and have the control over our land.
Besides livestock guard dogs (and one concern I have about those is that some breeds are bigger than Lobos and there is a risk that they can overpower and kill these endangered animals. If a livestock guard dog kills a wolf in the wild, their owner should be just as liable for that death as if they’d killed the wolf in person. Also the effect on other wildlife and recreationists needs to be examined. What if a livestock guard dog kills my dog while we are out hiking on public land? What if a livestock guard dog kills an elk calf or other wildlife? ) But I digress, human presence as in range riders are a good deterrence against wolves too. Timing calving so all the calves are born in a narrow window makes it easier for their owner to monitor them when they are most vulnerable. Choose cattle breeds that are extremely protective of their young calves. Have cows with horns rather than without gives them better ability to protect themselves in the wild. Put the cows in pastures where they aren’t being set up to be preyed upon by wolves, such as those denning and raising pups. The cows we are talking about are on public lands in wild places where natural processes and native wildlife should take precedence. But there is much that livestock operators can and should do to minimize the impacts.