Wolves do affect business

[bearpaw]

Wolves do affect business

http://mtstandard.com/news/opinion/columnists/wolves-do-affect-business/article_238be1b4-ec09-11e1-85ad-001a4bcf887a.html?print=true&cid=print
August 22, 2012 12:00 am  •  By Denver Bryan

A recent op-ed piece by Montana writer Todd Wilkinson claimed that hunting outfitters were “fibbing” about the negative impact high wolf populations are having on their businesses.

Wilkinson’s only support for his conclusion seemed to be the fact that he had no problem finding 50 outfitter websites in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho that advertise high elk hunting success rates.

In subsequent discussions with Wilkinson, I tried to explain that it’s easy to find outfitters with websites who are still in business. However, it’s not so easy to locate outfitters who have either gone out of business, are going out of business or who are having to change how their business operates.

Additionally, I asked him if he knew anyone hoping to stay in business who actually advertises that their business is doing poorly? Unfortunately, Wilkinson didn’t seem to see the logic and went on to challenge me to find even five outfitters who have gone out of business.

After several weeks and hearing back from a few dozen outfitters, I found considerably more than five who are either out of business or struggling to stay in business.

Here are a few comments from the few dozen that I received from outfitters regarding how high wolf populations and greatly diminished elk herds in their regions have impacted their businesses.

• From Lee Hart of Broken Heart Outfitters of Gallatin Gateway: “We used to guide 50-80 elk hunters every year up in the Gallatin Canyon region with good success. However, last year we had one hunter and so far none are booked for 2012.”

• From Dave Hettinger of Dillon: “I was an outfitter in Idaho for 19 years and ended up walking away from the business a few years ago (unable to sell it) due to the serious decline of the Lolo region elk herd.”

• From guide Rick Hafenfeld (also a certified wildlife biologist) out of Big Timber: “In our hunting area, where we previously booked four to five trips with four to six hunters on each, we now only book two hunts with only two clients on one hunt and four on the other.

“This amounts to a reduction in our business from 20-30 hunters to six or a 60 to 80 percent decrease. Contrary to environmentalists’ predictions, I know of no outfitters who have received inquiries about leading wolf watching safaris.”

• From Michael Story: “I outfit in Paradise Valley west of Emigrant. Before wolf introduction there were 16 outfitters in this region and now there are just seven still hanging on.”

• From Joe Cantrell of St. Regis: “Because high wolf numbers have significantly depleted the elk herd in the West Bitterroot hunting district, all of my businesses (outfitting, restaurant, bar and lodging) are down. The damage from wolves has already been done and our elk herd is down 60 percent. I still take a few hunters out but the day is coming for many outfitters when we won’t have enough elk to sustain both wolves and hunting.”

• From Liz Jackson of Cooke City: “The greater Yellowstone elk herd has been drastically reduced due primarily to wolf predation. We have experienced a phenomenal change in our hunting business.

“We are permitted by the Gallatin National Forest to take 18 hunters each fall. We used to be ‘fully booked’ every season but have only guided five, two and four hunters respectively over the past three years, and only harvested one bull in that time. We see the time in the near future when we will no longer be offering elk hunts in this region.”

I could relay similar comments from many other outfitters on this topic but space limitations here won’t allow for such. Suffice it to say, with well over a thousand outfitters in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the livelihoods of many have been and are still being seriously impacted by high wolf populations.

— Denver Bryan is a wildlife biologist by training and a wildlife photographer by profession. He lives in Bozeman and his work has appeared on the cover of several outdoors magazines.

[mkcj]

thanks for the post Bearpaw.

[sebek556]

Sad to hear, many pour their lives into their work only to have it ruined by bad policys.

[Kowsrule30]

Now that's a sad day when all the working class feel the pain and nobody cares.... Actually like they try to cover it up....

[Special T]

If you want to find out how many guides have gone out of business all you should have to do i ask each state's game agency for the numbers. They make you get a permit to guide so they should have the records... maybe even a online seach could turn up the historical numbers if that is important. 

[Austrian Hunter]

Sad to hear, many pour their lives into their work only to have it ruined by bad policys.

 

[bearpaw]

   to help understand the impacts of wolves

[Heredoggydoggy]

This year I coyote hunted an area that used to be loaded with deer, coyotes, and elk.  On the 6 or7 mile drive into the area, I would see 5 or 6 places where game crossed the road.  This year, nothing!  Once into the area, I used to see lots of deer and coyote tracks.  This year, nothing!  I saw one pile of elk droppings that looked like they were 4 months old.  That's all I saw.  I talked to a guy that lived near there, and asked him if he had a lot of coyotes around, and his reply was:  "Naw--Wolves got 'em all!". 

[bearpaw]

   up again so that everyone can read what has happened in ID & MT, please read the first post....

[wolfbait]

Vital Wolf Facts Ignored
 October 10, 2010 12:00 am
It would seem only fair that when you print stories in a paper such as yours about the wolf debacle in Wyoming, "your home state," you would a least print facts about the whole story.
Facts that you or any other publication never prints as follows:
1. Wyoming's management plan to classify wolves as both trophy game animals in some of the state and predator status in the rest of the state was approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. They declared the plan as a sound and viable conservation strategy to maintain the wolf population via science and not courtrooms. This is fact.
2. The criteria for meeting the delisting requirements was changed multiple times by courtrooms and environmental groups. Saying Wyoming didn't play ball in the delisting process is a bunch of bull as they expanded the trophy zone in western Wyoming around Yellowstone to meet the Fish and Wildlife's satisfaction. This is fact.
3. If you do your homework this introduction of the Canadian gray wolf to Wyoming and Idaho was merely an experiment. It is written in proposals many times since its inception that the wolves were "experimental nonessential" This is fact.
4. This was never a reintroduction of Canadian gray wolves to Yellowstone, it was an introduction of them as they never existed here in the first place. The true Wyoming wolf was much smaller and had many different characteristics than the Canadian gray wolf. The Fish and Wildlife Service action of bringing them to our state is nothing more than an extermination of the chance that the true Wyoming wolf still existed. It's like throwing an individual species off of Noah's Ark and then under the bus. Actually it's like bringing a polar bear here if our grizzlies disappear and reintroduce the bear. A bear is a bear is a bear, right?
5. Last but not least, what about the millions of dollars it has cost motels, outfitters, restaurants, gift shops, gas stations, etc.? This introduction just doesn't affect wool growers and cattle ranchers, it affects everyone. In my town of Dubois, we went from 1,650 cow elk tags to a mere 300 in just 10 years. It has killed our hunting economy to say the least and it's well into the millions of revenue lost to our town, and many jobs too.
If you're going to write stories please try not to leave out the important stuff.
RENE SUDA, Dubois
http://trib.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_cdf946e6-e244-59c9-9745-80ecb6509f64.html

[Sitka_Blacktail]

That's pretty funny Wolfbait, and also completely misleading to what is going on in Wyoming. Your opinion piece is from 2010. Wyoming had their all time record elk harvest in 2010 and then broke it again in 2012. And their elk herd is growing. In fact to quote a F&G official, it is the "Golden Age of Elk" in Wyoming right now.

http://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/news-1001370.aspx

[wolfbait]

That's pretty funny Wolfbait, and also completely misleading to what is going on in Wyoming. Your opinion piece is from 2010. Wyoming had their all time record elk harvest in 2010 and then broke it again in 2012. And their elk herd is growing. In fact to quote a F&G official, it is the "Golden Age of Elk" in Wyoming right now.

http://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/news-1001370.aspx

Do you suppose WGFD and WDFW went to the same pro-wolf agenda classes?

Yellowstone is Dead Theatrical Trailer

[bearpaw]

That's pretty funny Wolfbait, and also completely misleading to what is going on in Wyoming. Your opinion piece is from 2010. Wyoming had their all time record elk harvest in 2010 and then broke it again in 2012. And their elk herd is growing. In fact to quote a F&G official, it is the "Golden Age of Elk" in Wyoming right now.

http://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/news-1001370.aspx

Nice try Blacktail. The truth is that wolves are shot on sight in 80% of Wyoming. So the downfall in elk numbers in the 20% of the state where wolves exist has not decreased the overall harvest for the entire state that much because the rest of the state has an excellent herd where there very few or no wolves.

This comment is the typical wolf lover mentality, they use the overall number of animals in a state to hide the localized devastating effects that wolves have on herds when wolves over populate.

[finnman]

That's pretty funny Wolfbait, and also completely misleading to what is going on in Wyoming. Your opinion piece is from 2010. Wyoming had their all time record elk harvest in 2010 and then broke it again in 2012. And their elk herd is growing. In fact to quote a F&G official, it is the "Golden Age of Elk" in Wyoming right now.

http://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/news-1001370.aspx

Do you suppose WGFD and WDFW went to the same pro-wolf agenda classes?

Yellowstone is Dead Theatrical Trailer

I just love this fellas definition for the work a biologist does, it is so reasonable its hilarious!

[hunter399]

I have a few friends that live and hunt in idaho,they told me that is pretty bad what wolves has done to there herds.One of my friend told me he will shootem on sight,he sounded really mad about it.(he hunts elk every year).