Wolves can be managed with human ingenuity

(Editor’s note: The views expressed in guest commentaries are those of the author alone and do not represent the position of the Times.)

How would you like to start a bar fight? One suggestion is to walk in and shout a single word: Wolves!

For centuries, our European ancestors dreaded the animal as the personification of all their fears. My ancestors immigrated to North America (some before the U.S. existed) and brought that fear with them. This resulted in the deliberate extermination of all wolves in the lower 48 states, except in a tiny sliver of northern Minnesota.

The old views remain, bolstered by vested interests who use fear-mongering to create worry. However, scientists now recognize that wolves play an important role in balancing the otherwise sedentary habits of our elk.

Wolf recovery in Colorado will be a success, but I have also long recognized that wolves will cause problems for a few ranchers. On occasion, wolves will kill livestock. But let's not overstate the case. Wolves take a fraction of 1% of cows and sheep annually.

When you consider how many ways livestock prematurely die, from disease to loose dogs, predation by wolves is not a threat to the industry as a whole. However, individual ranches can feel the

Letters

pain of wolf predation acutely, in the pocketbook and on an emotional level. That is why many good people from all sides of the issue have been working to create a robust compensation program — as well as management strategies that can work out non-lethal practices to the age-old problem of conflict between wild predators and domestic livestock.

I've heard the local stockgrowers express concern about wolves. No surprise there, considering the historical antipathy. But I believe their misgivings are exaggerated. They claim that they practice low-stress techniques and that the mere presence of wolves will disrupt this practice. But the good news is that wolves routinely fail to prey on cattle that are so managed.

Why? Because low-stress handling increases herd instinct, one of a prey animal's primary means of providing a proper response to lupine predation. Teaching cattle how to act around coursing predators like wolves is the cutting edge in modern stewardship. It sounds daunting, but has proven successful and is just one method that will lower vulnerability to wolf predation.

Turning our attention to the interplay between predator and prey, there is much to consider. With wolves, reams of published science underpin the issue. Yet, we often hear that wolves will destroy the elk. Rubbish. If wolves are so bad for elk, then why did they exist together for millennia before any Europeans stepped ashore at Plymouth Rock?

In fact, Idaho — one focal point of wolf recovery — has what their game agency is calling the "second golden-age of elk hunting.” In the presence of hundreds of wolves. Imagine that. Montana, Wyoming and Idaho all have more elk now than they did before wolf recovery. Does that mean Colorado's elk population will go up? Not necessarily, but it casts doubt on any claim that wolves will "destroy" native big game.

I've heard hunters express concern about hunting opportunities. That the shear number of elk might not matter if wolves change elk behavior too much. Yet, again, looking at where wolves currently prey on elk, hunter success rates have remained stable.

For one blessed period of my life I was able to work directly with wolves. I have few illusions about the animal. I worry about predation on cattle, because it affects my neighbors. Yet, hav- ing studied both engineering and wolf biology, I know that the negative effects of wolves can be mitigated by human ingenuity. To do any less is a disservice to everyone who has a stake in this issue.

We, the citizens of Colorado, have a unique opportunity to do wolf recovery right. It is indeed fortunate that a citizen-led body of stakeholders and scientists have come together to formulate a plan that will work for every person.

In the end, having wolves on the working landscape will be a challenge. A challenge that can be met with the input of all those who are concerned about the issue.

Are you wholeheartedly for it? Are you skeptical? Still forming an opinion? Regardless, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has released its 293-page draft wolf management plan. I've read it, and I encourage anyone interested to do the same. To comment until Feb. 22, visit engagecpw.org.

(Tom Zieber once worked directly with wolves in captivity as a handler, has tracked wild wolves in Michigan, and worked as a biological technician on the Yellowstone Wolf Project. He is now an independent advocate and member of the Southwest Colorado Wolf Cooperative. He can be reached at tomzieber@ gmail.com.)

THE GUNNISON COUNTRY TIMES (ISSN 0892-1113) is published weekly by Alan Wartes Media LLC., 218 N. Wisconsin St., Gunnison, Colorado 81230. Periodical postage paid at Gunnison, Colorado. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Gunnison Country Times, 218 N. Wisconsin, Gunnison, CO 81230-0240 Winter Hours: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday

Dissenters not only ones vilified

Editor:

I’d like to thank the Times and publisher Alan Wartes for the thought-provoking opinion section in last week’s paper.

Alan, I couldn’t agree more with you about the danger of vilifying dissent. But, I would add to that list the frailty of doing the same to authority and leadership — positions which seem to have grown anathema in our land, but without which a functioning community and democracy as a whole crumbles.

While viewed through a hyper-local lens, I did not see, hear or experience that much of the former, at least not publicly. But as a citizen of this community and former publisher of this newspaper, I most certainly did the latter.

And if those individuals who We the People have entrusted to make those often routine but occasionally excruciatingly difficult decisions were to tell it (which they won’t), that vilification went even beyond “harsh and divisive name calling.”

As for keeping politics out of it, I wake each morning wishing for an end to world strife and free unicorns for all the children. Alas, without hope what does one have, really?

Perhaps we at least could strive to identify and nullify the widespread and deliberate dissemination of false and misleading information, the proverbial “flooding the zone with s*!%” made infamous by self-seeking individuals.

And, to think, letters by not one, but two divinity scholars in one edition of our hometown newspaper. That’s heady stuff, and thanks Kelly Jo and Ian for the beautiful reminders of grace and love that can be found in a book so confoundingly contradictory.

Can’t wait to read next week’s edition.

Go Cowboys!

Dickey Gunnison

Honest conversation

Editor:

In last week’s opinion, Alan shared lessons he learned from the pandemic years. His stated purpose was to start an honest conversation about his conclusions. In that spirit, I am offering some thoughts.

He highlighted the strong sense of community we share in the valley. I agree and think that helped us do as well as we did during the pandemic.

He said lockdowns may have caused more harm than good.

I agree that lockdowns had impacts. Whether those effects are worse than what might have happened if we hadn’t locked down is something we won’t know. If he expects extraordinary threats to be handled with no consequences then perhaps a reality check is in order.

He said the economic impacts of lockdowns would have been worse if not for the infusion of federal aid. The key point is that aid did come and our economy took some hits, but came through pretty well overall.

We now know that school shutdowns had a negative impact on learning progress for many students. How does that balance against the goal of trying to cut down on the spread of a serious disease through the community?

Good arguments can be made either way, but I don’t fault the health officials and school district for erring on the side of caution when it came to making tough decisions during uncertain times.

Alan admits he forms his opinions with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. He may have forgotten that things were much more uncertain when those decisions were being made. The sensible lesson isn’t that lockdowns shouldn’t be used, but to make sure the potential impacts of lockdowns are considered in the decision making process about whether to use them. I assure you that those considerations were a key part of all of our discussions.

Alan contended that mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) may have dangerous side effects. His implied suggestion is that we shouldn’t encourage people to get the vaccines. Discussion of this topic must be able to wrestle with the concept of relative risks. Since 1.1 million Americans have died of COVID, and 500 still die daily, these dangerous side effects he speaks of must be pretty bad to be worse than that death toll.

The reliable data at the CDC

Vaccine Effects tracking system shows mRNA vaccines cause severe allergic reactions (five cases per million vaccines, treatable and rarely fatal) and Myocarditis (50 to 100 cases per million doses, treatable and almost never fatal).

Out of 670 million COVID vaccines given in the U.S. 18,649 deaths have occurred near the time of vaccination. It’s unclear what percentage of those were actually caused by the vaccine. Even if all of those were due to vaccines, it means that .0028% of folks died of getting the shot.

Comparing 1.1 million deaths from COVID mostly in unvaccinated people versus at most a .0028% chance of dying from the vaccine it should be clear which choice makes more sense — both for personal safety and the wellbeing of the community.

Arden Anderson Gunnison

Gunnison Library holdings

Editor:

The controversy swirling around the Gunnison Libraries’ holdings and their access seems mired in a range of narratives. I suggest we engage in conversations anchored in our experiences instead of these fabrications.

My experiences with friends and acquaintances who are also LGBTQ+ have enriched my life. They engage many of the same joys and sorrows that I do. They also want the same things I want: freedom, equity, safety and quiet enjoyment of their lives.

There’s an old saying that it’s hard to hate someone you know. Please get to know our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. I suggest you’ll be amazed at what you’ve been missing.

In our national experience, 20 states have outlawed conversion therapy. These are misguided and damaging attempts to alter LGBTQ+ individual’s sexual orientation. It never worked, other than to shove these people further into darkness and despair. Additionally, same sex couples are providing loving and supportive homes to children who grow up to be heterosexual. Simply put, the dismal failure of conversion therapy and the success of heterosexual children being raised by same sex couples indicates that our sexual orientation is baked in. The narratives that suggest that an adolescent will read a book and change their sexual preference is simply far afield of our human experience.

Although I am not a religious person, I am aware of multiple biblical references that say all of us were consciously formed and are loved by the Creator. The good news is that we are all born worthy and God’s job is taken! Our job is to treat each other with the dignity and respect that is our birthright.

As we continue our great democracy experiment, it’s fundamental that we each be humble in accepting all humans whether they are like us or not.

Access to reading materials that validate our personal stories

Mark Tardiff Crested Butte

Justified or ‘judgmental?’

Editor:

Some personal thoughts on the current discussion about the ideas of being “judgmental.” The local paper is not the best platform for arguing theology, yet I am concerned about the influence that words have on some that can be easily influenced, because they may not be grounded in what the Bible actually says. Since the book of Romans has been the recent topic, I encourage anyone to read what it says for themselves.

The original concern was about graphically sexual books that are not age-appropriate, because of their content, and the question as to whether they should be made available to children. The whole idea of the morality of LGBTQ+ is a loaded topic and is definitely addressed in scripture, along with other tenants of moral law — like stealing, adultery, idolatry, etc. They are laws to those who recognize the authority of scripture in their lives, and many have been adopted into our society.

It is ridiculous to think that we cannot speak about the concerns of violating laws because to do so would be “judgmental.” That would disqualify all forms of authority and justice including parents, judges and police, to name a few. This would produce a lawless society (which we are presently seeing take shape).

I believe the spirit behind the biblical teaching of “judge not” was to point out that all of us are guilty of some infractions of moral law (because we are all human) and no one can really brag about how good they are in comparison to another. It is actually a theme of practicing humility, and the goal was to help the listener realize that no matter how righteous a person feels about their “good deeds,” it doesn’t address the necessity of changing the attitudes of the heart, which is the deeper issue, and that’s where we all need help.

Where we can all perhaps agree is that we shouldn’t devalue another person because of what they do (because we all stand guilty of something, even if it’s minor).

We can always treat others with respect and empathy because of their humanity, and as Christians, we are called to love the person, even when we disagree with what they do. It doesn’t always mean ignoring a behavior, however, and I don’t believe that it negates addressing choices that are in violation of set standards that have to be addressed in our society in order to maintain boundaries.

We can again agree that issues like child or animal abuse, murder, rape, and such, should be “judged” and dealt with. It’s when cultural norms change and even violate the conscience of some, where problems begin. To many, the sexual exploitation of children through normalization is abhorrent, and their desire to protect the innocents is admirable, yet they are “judged” by those who feel it is good to set the minds of the youth “free” to explore their own sexual path. It is clear from statistics that this is producing a social contagion amongst the young and impressionable and those who aren’t mature enough to make such choices (especially those that are permanent) and are caught up in the confusion. Is standing up to protect these youth then justifiable, or is it judgmental?

Michelle Duft Gunnison

‘Non-soil’ ag tax clarification

Editor: Thank you for printing the story regarding the new property tax break for “non-soil” food producers in last week’s Times There’s no doubt that this new law will be of significant benefit to anyone involved in commercial-scale hydroponics, but there are a few details that the Gunnison County Assessor’s Office would like to clarify.

First, the new law applies to what are defined as Controlled Environment Agricultural Facilities. There are three components to any such facility: the land, the physical structures on the land and the equipment inside the structures. Of these, only the equipment is exempted from property tax under the new law. The land and structures will continue to be valued and taxed in the same way as other commercial property.

Second, there are a few important caveats: the new law does not apply to traditional greenhouse operations, only those that specifically employ hydroponics; it does not apply to any facility used to cultivate marijuana; and the property tax exemption on equipment is temporary — it only applies for tax years 2023 through 2028.

Finally, if someone is thinking about starting a business involving non-soil food production, we encourage them to contact the assessor’s office. We would be happy to help them understand the potential property tax implications at a detailed level, so they can build realistic estimates into any business plan.

William Spicer Gunnison County Assessor’s Office

A man-made control

Editor:

It is said that Colorado voters in 13 out of 64 counties voted for the reintroduction of wolves into our state — counties that will not ever see the wolves unless they happen to wander into their territories.

What about the Gunnison sage-grouse that we have spent over $500 million dollars to save?

These birds do not have the survival instinct to save themselves and definitely will not be able to survive the wolf predators. Once the grouse are put on the endangered list, what will hap- month, the amount of precipitation the valley had received jumped to 220% of average, according to data from the National Weather Service. Hydrologists monitoring the region are hopeful the moisture persists and presented the first water supply outlook of 2023 for the Upper Colorado River Basin on Jan. 19.

Most of the area is near to above average precipitation for the water year so far, said Ashley Nielson, a senior hydrologist at the Colorado River Forecast Center. The current water year stretches from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023.

“We're off to a good start in terms of precipitation,” Nielson said.

At the beginning of 2021, the entire state of Colorado fell into the U.S. Drought Monitor’s extreme or exceptional drought categories — the highest on its intensity scale. Nielson noted some improvement last year, but much of the region remained in moderate or severe drought.

Conditions across Colorado are looking much better in 2023, including portions of Gunnison County, she said. The northern half of Gunnison County no longer has a drought designation, while the southwest half is