EMAIL #1
Dear Mayor Ross Petersen
This Saturday, November 9th, I arrived in Ely not only to visit your lovely town but to serve as a wolf advocate at the rally to stop wolf hunting. While I was there I was given a copy of your article in the Ely Echo, the one where you label wolf advocates negative and ignorant. Aside from your comments about wolf advocates being rude it was hypocritical.
Just a month ago, you yourself came to the defense of Dr. Lynn Rogers of the Bear Research Center and in your own words expressed your dislike for DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr, even demanding his resignation based on the fact his decision to deny Rogers a permit along with the killing of collared bears had hurt the local economy and caused a backlash from tourists.
Well, since you fail to recognize this yourself I thought I’d point out the obvious to you. Not everyone who visits Ely or came to know Ely did so because of the Bear Research Center. There are many, including myself, that came to know Ely because of the International Wolf Center. I am and always have been a resident of Minnesota and yet knew nothing about Ely until I became aware of the IWC. My sole purpose for starting to visit Ely years ago was with the hopes of seeing a wolf in the wild. Bear lovers are not the only people who spend money in Ely, me and my family of five have spent not hundreds but thousands of dollars in your town. We’ve been to Wintergreen for dogsledding, spent summers in the BWCA with Ely Outfitting Company, eaten countless times at the Chocolate Moose, stayed in various hotels, B&B’s, lodges (Blue Heron B&B, Adventure Inn, Canoe On Inn to name a few), visited the Bear Center and the IWC, purchased numerous items at several stores along Sheridan Street, we’ve even used the Ely Vet Clinic. I am not alone. Many of the wolf advocates you decided to disparage in your article frequently visit Ely, and not unlike myself they visit more than once a year.
Need I remind you that wildlife viewing is a $45.7 billion dollar a year industry for the U.S. and that the International Wolf Center brings in $3 million a year (according to their own accounting) which means lots of tourist dollars for your town. Ely residents and businesses frequently use the prospect of seeing a wolf in the wild as a lure for tourists and many of the tourists that bought into that possibility stood in Whiteside park in defense of the wolf on Nov. 9th.
I may not live in the heart of wolf country and I may not be a wolf biologist but I do know when someone is speaking out both sides of their mouth. You either want the tourist dollars or you don’t, you either want to protect the people or you don’t. Bears and wolves are equal in that they are necessary for a balanced ecosystem, they bring countless dollars into Ely’s economy and neither’s population is so large that they are a threat to humans, yet you’ve chosen to stand up to DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr for one species and not the other.
Something you’ve also clearly missed is that your town doesn’t agree with you. We had numerous shouts of support (car honking, thumbs yup, and thank you’s) and only 2 negatives.
So you can continue to spread hate by making statements such as those in your article but know this; wolf advocates are not negative and ignorant, we are people that care about the environment and wildlife, people that are willing to stand out in the snow and cold to fight for another species survival because we know the value of that species is far greater than just monetary. We are passionate, caring and very educated individuals that won’t back down just because someone calls us a few ugly names and unless you have a PhD in wildlife ecology and ready to stand against all of the wolf biologists that have called this hunt irresponsible and unnecessary than I would refrain from name calling because we wolf advocates can refuse to spend money in your town too.
EMAIL #2
Since I left this off my last email and I've heard you are requesting a response to this particular question I thought I'd email you once again with an answer.
You've asked why there was not one complaint when the federal government was killing hundreds of wolves per year as part of the endangered species program to bring back the wolves and yet now when the states does it with non-professionals it’s a huge controversy.
Well... for starters, who knew the federal government was killing wolves? It wasn’t until our wolves were removed from the ESL and Howling for Wolves was formed did most Minnesotans even become aware that wolves were being hunted much less that they were legally being shot on a regular basis by predator control specialists. To this day, people are still learning that our wolves are being slaughtered and questioning why.
Second, predator control specialists eliminate what they consider problematic or potentially problematic wolves based on reports from livestock owners but what you are advocating is the killing of random wolves in the wild, wolves that are likely nowhere near any livestock, not taking into consideration the pack/family mentality. Wolf biologists have stated that once an alpha is taken out the pack can be completely fractured leaving weakened packs or lone wolves to seek out easy food sources such as livestock, when prior to their alpha being killed they wouldn’t have done so. In addition to that there is no scientific data that backs up the claim that killing random wolves reduces wolf and human conflict.
Third, just because a wolf hunt has been enacted doesn’t mean predator control has been dissolved. Last year alone 400 wolves were killed in our first wolf hunting/trapping season in addition to the 300 killed by predator control specialists. So, predator control specialists are still out trapping and killing wolves alongside the random slaughter by hunters, the only difference is that predator control has been turned over to the states so that we Minnesota tax payers can fully fund the slaughter now.
But now that the public is aware of what’s going on I can assure you they won’t be quiet any longer.
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