NEW WEST ESSAY
An Idaho ‘Wolf Lady’ Uses Activism, Education, Networking
Lynne Stone thinks there’s a place for wolves in the West -- but maybe not in her lifetime.By Dennis Higman, 11-23-10
Photo courtesy Flickr user dalliedee.
Lynne Stone, my favorite wolf advocate, hasn’t changed much. She’s still the same ruddy-faced, formidable, outspoken blonde I met years ago.
“Can you believe this guy?” she says in an outraged voice, reading me a statement by Idaho Gov. “Butch” Otter about the recent federal court decision putting wolves back on the endangered species list and, in the process, cancelling what was to be Idaho’s second wolf hunting season.
Otter wrote: “The wolves are still here and still protected by federal law. That’s more than you can say for our elk, deer and livestock or the Idaho families supported by hunting-related businesses or ranching. They remain just voices in the wilderness to policy makers in Washington D.C. But not to me.”
Lynne and I are having a cup of coffee in Ketchum, Idaho, where she has relocated from Stanley after a very discouraging wolf year there.
She begins to reel off the number of “her” wolves killed in the last several years, not just as a result of Idaho’s first hunting season (188), but by ranchers using a state law plus a loophole in the Endangered Species Act which allows them to kill wolves who molest their stock. Or by getting the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services (who once proposed gassing wolf pups in their den) to do their dirty work for them.
Many of her favorite wolves and wolf packs have been wiped out or decimated and scattered in what she calls on her website a “heartbreaking year for wolves”. The Stanley Pack, the Buffalo Ridge Pack, the Galena Pack. It goes on and on. And the individual wolves all have names too—Red, Little Sis, Lassie Wolf—because they are her personal friends she has tracked and watched and protected for years.
While other wolf advocates—and there are many good ones, including Defenders of Wildlife and Earth Justice---are bigger and perhaps more effective on the national scene because they are backed by battalions of lawyers, Stone, a Director of the Boulder White Clouds Council, is a unique foot soldier in this battle. She has probably spent more time in the field, living with wolves, actively protecting wolves, and guiding visitors to see Idaho’s wolves in the wild, than anybody else.
I first met Lynne Stone through my neighbor, Pat Beattie, whose late daughter, Mollie, was the original “wolf lady”. Mollie Beattie, who tragically died of brain cancer at age 49 in 1996, was the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under Bill Clinton (the first woman to hold that post). On her watch, 66 captured Canadian wolves were released into central Idaho (35) and Yellowstone Park (31) as part of the department’s Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Program, a move that triggered the bitter controversy that rages in Idaho to this day.
I never had the pleasure of meeting Mollie. who, like Lynne Stone, was an outspoken proponent of wildlife conservation in general and wolves in particular, but I knew her mother well. Pat Beattie was a pilot, a fine horsewoman who trained hunter/jumpers and a brave soul who lived alone on a remote ranch well into her 80s, so I can imagine that if her daughter were alive today, she would be in the thick of things, defending her wolves.
Lynne Stone was certainly in the thick of things when I met her for breakfast two summers ago in Stanley, Idaho. She was camping out of her pickup truck and she and her faithful dog Bo had been up before dawn, scaring wolves away from cattle using “cracker shells” fired from her 12-gauge shotgun. It was not a good summer. One of her favorite wolves, “Little Sis” had just been shot and killed on private land. Lynne also said she had been attacked by a local anti-wolf advocate who tried to choke her. She eventually charged him with assault, but lost her case in Custer County where it would be hard, if not impossible, to find a judge, jury or prosecutor that wasn’t anti-wolf.
Our conversation on that sunny summer morning came to an abrupt end when she spotted the federal government Wildlife Services’ airplane overhead and surmised they were on their way to kill a wolf or two at the request of one of the local ranchers. Without apology, she and her dog were gone, leaving her breakfast that had just arrived.
Despite what might be seen by others as devastating setbacks, an intractable political situation, endless litigation, and her beloved wolves scattered to the winds, Stone is not discouraged. “I still get up every morning and go out,” she asserts emphatically. “Believe me, there are wolves out there, you just have to know how and where to look.
“I have to believe and have faith there is a place for wolves in this world and that working together we are going to help them find it. I know wolves can be a positive thing for Idaho. Look at Yellowstone. It’s a huge business. People will come here from all over the country, from all over the world, to see wolves in the wild. I may not see it, but my grandchildren will.”
Stone believes that a combination of (1) continued aggressive pressure to remove livestock from public land (approximately 80 percent of the land in Central Idaho is owned by the public), (2) education about the value of wolves in the natural environment, and (3) skilled use of the Internet will eventually turn the tide.
“You can mobilize like-minded people with social networking, thousands of them, particularly young people who will take this cause to heart. This can be a very powerful tool for us.”
She may be right, but the Internet and social networking cut both ways and can be used to spread lies and innuendo about people and organizations that are difficult to refute.
Occasionally, of course, you can shoot yourself in the foot with a careless post, as one of Stone’s opponents rdecently discovered. The founder of SaveElk.com, an anti-wolf website, has been charged with the killing of a trophy bull elk after bragging about his kill on the Internet, an offense punishable by up to five years in prison under Idaho law.
He—or she—who lives by the sword…
Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.
Comments
Add your comment below
I on the other hand hate wildlife and me and my buddies are going wolf hunting.
Hal
"EVERYONE" does not meen a select group of eco whackos. It means ALL THE TAXPAYERS. Maybe we should get usage permits based on how much tax we pay.
That said, just how many people commenting in this forum actually live here with wolf-dogs killing resident wildlife in their own backyards? Not many I see.
This is where we are going with this whole wolf-dog project. We propose to test genetics on said wolves. If they are not 99%wolf or higher, removal will be required. They must match genetics of the resident wolves that roamed the region prior to release of said project sub specie. We all know this will be the final straw to break the wolfaboo's claim's of being the same wolf. Truth will prevail. Removal will happen.
Save a herd of elk this year, Kill 1 'Canadian' wolf !!!
You are exactly right on your assessment of Lynn Stone! If Molly Beatie was a "wolf lady" how in the hell did she end up as Director of the US Fish & Wildlife service? Just think if every dollar that was spent on wolves was used to preserve habitat! Molley has wasted more tax dollars on this animal. Things need to change!
What will be enough? 100% of predators eliminated? Upsetting that balance will create problems with their prey - So eliminate all prey animals? Do you want to create an artificial world where only domestic animals can reside?
Don't like wolves? Then get off my public lands and build walls on your properties to protect your investment. Same with outfitters - buy your own land to hunt on if don't want wolves in the mix.
I own property in Idaho and look forward to moving there in the near future. I love the Rockies for their wildness and all that entails. There is plenty of land elsewhere that has been stripped of its native fauna and flora and replaced with domestication.
Keep Idaho wild!
The BLM argues that reducing herd sizes are necessary to protect the range and to keep the horse populations healthy into the future. The agency intends to apply a fertility vaccine called PZP to 890 mares, then release the animals back to the areas from which they were captured."
The technology exists to administer this drug to predators like wolves and cougars without capture.
Can compromise save the West from haters?
- No. Guess again .
"who is reaping taxpayer dollars out of all our pockets with his constant barrage of lawshuits? "
- No he's not. You're delusional again .
- lawshuits ? ---Is that a Canadian tribe ??
You and I probably like the howls; but where we depart is that I don't enjoy seeing other species devasted. I don't enjoy watching a beautiful calf elk or fawn torn apart by a pack of voracious killers. Hundreds of them increasing exponentially as we speak. There needs to be a balance. It is way out of balance now.
Stoneman
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/news/fg_news/10/aug.pdf
Whatever did elk do for eons before there were us white folk here to protect them from wolves?
And hey Big Sky- did you forget that wolves were eliminated from the lower 48 once before?
I want to watch and photograph other wildlife, like elk calves, fawns and other creatures. I do not enjoy watching wolves tear a calf apart as it is being born. Huge numbers of our other game animals being killed and the increase in death among our other species is growing at horrendous rates.
Stoneman
I have spent over 50 years hiking the high country and off road areas. I have fought to preserve wild country for decades.
This wolf re-introduction is changing the whole pattern, numbers and location of game animals in the West. Five hundred elk hanging out on the plains around farm and ranch buildings is not the same as having them dispersed among the high basins and the rest of the wild lands. You can keep the 10 million deer back east. Just don't allow these beasts to destroy our game populations on our public lands.
Unfortunately, many of my acquaintances who were coming over to the side of conservation and preservation of our last remaining wild lands are turning against the entire environmental movement because of the impacts of these voracious predators.
If we continue to ignore and dismiss the comments of the people who are on the ground, in areas these wolves are penetrating, we will see the pendulum swing way over.
This makes me sick at heart and sad. We made such good progress over the last decade in getting fence-sitters to move to the conservation side. Now, I am hearing and seeing very good supporters just shaking their heads in disbelief that we would let this wolf population get so out of control. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!
Please don't be so naive as to ignore the input from people who live and work in areas being impacted. Once the public turns against the Endangered Species Act, you will see very bad reactions to this so-called recovery and to any efforts to preserve other species. That, sadly, is already happening.
It is more about balance than numbers. Wolves are changing the face of several western states.
Stoneman
Stoneman
You're right. we have too many people on this planet and some of us should jump off a cliff to make room for more wolves. PLEASE LEAD THE WAY.
I am not a wolf hater. I do not hate the Mountain Lion, the Grizzly bear or the Black bear....never have! I don't hate the eagle, the Lynx, the Bobcat, the Coyote or the Fisher…… the Fox, the Raven or the Lion for that matter. At one time I was in favor of having wolves in Northern WI. Then came along the anti-hunters pushing the wolf under disguise of the environment! I’m disgusted that the Anti-hunters use the wolf as a weapon! Ricky, you can call it hate, I call it drive!
My drive comes from the destruction of the Northern Yellowstone Elk herd (witnessed firsthand), the stagnant status of the Clam Lake Elk herd & the appearance of wolves in Shawano & Outagamie Co in Wisconsin! My drive comes from the fact that the wolf is currently being managed by the CEO’s of Defenders of wildlife & HSUS. Groups with rich environmental lawyers that could care less about wildlife and only care about keeping their cash cow the wolf in the courts!
Ricky, Thank you for your "Hate" post..... It makes a good addition to my Ranchers Handbook of Anti-hunters posts! I'm sure it will be just the exact motivation some will need to turn from SSS to SSSSSS. Thanks again!
Of course, that was before Manifest Destiny , market hunting and Cattle Baron livestock supplantation of native game , and wholesale elimination ( genocide) of apex predators.
It's a tough figure for anti-wolfers to digest : that so many elk and so many wolves existed at all here and existed right well, actually .
Suffice it to say today's Western Rancher lives in the balance. Remember, its as much a lifestyle as it is a job. Ranchers do NOT need environmentalists who want to close down a legitimate use of public lands and National Forests: Term Livestock Grazing under permit.
Wolves are a problem but with some thoughful control, they can coexist with the livestock industry in Idaho and elsewhere in North America. Usually it is only one or two specific, local individuals that do most of the livestock predation. So, the solution is targeted trapping (killing) of the offending animals. So, you don't need to exterminate the entire pack, just the ring leaders. This is called sensible Wildlife Management, something Ms. Stone and other extremists on both sides seem to lack here.
-glad you appended your comment above to include " extremists on both sides". Offhand I'd say 98+ percent of the ranchers in Wolf Country here in my corner of Wyoming are extremists , also ...they want to simply kill all the wolves, just like their grandpappys. QED.
I have no issues with a plan based on targetted eradicaton of only the problem wolves , and regulated wolf hunts . Too bad that anyone suggesting such a thing is branded a heretic , Wyoming being so red-shifted and all....
Here is a rather unbelievable, but nevertheless true, account of a wolf pack that terrorized a vegative study group of several seasonal Forest Service workers in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in the Fall of 2006, as reported by the Oregonian. Keep in mind the wolves did not do any harm to any person at all. It was all psychological (fear) and politics, as usual.
In Sept. 2006, a seasonal crew (female) from Ogden, Utah were finishing up their summer's field work. One night, a pack of wolves moved into the vicinity of their camp. The pack began loud howling at night and reportedly, the howling resonated in the rocks and shallow soil at their overnight backcountry campsite.
The crew panicked and radioed-in for help. The next day, their supervisor sent in a helicopter to extract them all from this situation. Some other employees were later sent up on foot to break camp for them. It would appear inexperience and folklore got the best of these Sawtooth National Forest employees.
According to Dr. Mike Gibeau (Carnivor Specialist with Parcs Canada in Banff, Alberta, Canada): " There is not one documented case in North America where a wolf attacked a human", (August, 2002, interview with Dr. Mike Gibeau, Banff National Park, Alberta). The whole matter of wolves is largely politics, misinformation, economics, fear, emotion, and extreme if not hidden agendas ( "Cow-Free" by '93).
There is a biography of Daniel Boone written in 1913 by McFee that states one of his children was killed by a wolf. We also know that wolves have killed a number of children in India.
I doubt that they will become dangerous in this area unless some get rabies, which is not unheard of in this country or very very hungry, which is most like in Yellowstone where they have wiped out elk and moose to a huge degree. In fact it was interesting to look back at this article and realize they were looking for all they were worth to find 4500 head of elk as it was unfolding on this page.
Don't forget Todd, legend says the Roman Empire was founded by Romulus and Remus, who were both raised (suckled) by a she-wolf (Canis lupis.)
I will be hunting wolves this fall because I hate what they are doing to other populations of wildlife. I'll probably miss a couple but sure would like to save several calf elk or fawn mule deer.
Stoneman