The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), a group with 158,000-members that has protected or improved 5.7 million acres of wildlife habitat has broken with conservation organizations and animal rights groups (including Defenders of Wildlife and Western Wildlife Conservancy) over a court ruling to continue protection for the gray wolf to the detriment of the elk population.
This is good news for those who are tired of being labeled extremists for seeking balance between the natural and human environments. It’s surprising news too, given that RMEF didn’t oppose the reintroduction of wolves and is generally on the same side as pro-wolf groups.
But as rural communities have known for years, the ESA needs fixing: balance is non-existent and common sense has gone missing. In this case it’s not humans vs. fish though, it’s species vs. species. Wolves win, elk don’t matter.
Why is that? Conservation groups in general adhere to Conservation Biology theory and wolves are major actors in its overarching vision: large migrating carnivorous populations of wolves, grizzly bears, and mountain lions are reestablished to slow extinctions and save the earth. Conservationists in national, state, and local environmental groups have bought into it lock, stock, and barrel.
As they bring pressure to bear on politicians and bureaucrats, we see increasingly restrictive laws enacted and access to public lands for multiple uses disappearing. Believe it or not, Conservation Biology is driving many environmental decisions in the United States these days.
A very simplistic explanation of Conservation Biology theory is that there are too many people, too much habitat disturbance and fragmentation (habitats aren’t connected for migration), and as a result the whole system is out of whack. We are in the midst of a major extinction period that didn’t have to happen. If we limit peoples’ activities by “protecting” public and private lands and bring back the carnivores – “rewild America” – it will modify the behavior of prey species, shift consumption dynamics all the way down the food chain, and restore equilibrium to the system.
It may sound nutty, but it’s mainstream thought these days in the environmental community. More about that another day… If you want to read up on it, Conservation Biology by Michael Soule and Rewilding North America by EarthFirst founder David Foreman are good introductions. In addition, Google “conservation biology”, “rewilding”, and “The Wildlands Network” for more info.
Here’s the press release issued by The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
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