The New York Times Knows Best

At least according to the editorial page: Mixed News For Wolves. (Here's the story from earlier in the week, from USA Today.

Here's what the Times has to say:

What’s disturbing about this proposal is that two of the states that will assume responsibility for managing the wolves have shown little interest in protecting them. At a recent rally, Idaho’s governor, C. L. Otter, called Butch, said he would authorize the destruction of more than 80 percent of the state’s 650 wolves, leaving the bare minimum required to keep them from being returned to the endangered list. Not to be outdone, Wyoming said it would allow 16 of its 23 wolf packs to be killed on sight. Montana, by contrast, will bar any hunting until officials see how well the wolves are doing, and even then hunting will be strictly monitored.

This eagerness to resume the slaughter is based on claims that the wolves are devastating livestock populations and game animals like elk. These claims have little basis in fact and should be rigorously examined during the public comment period ahead. Even then, the wolves should not be de-listed until Idaho and Wyoming adopt adequate regulatory mechanisms for protecting wolf populations that present no threat to humans, are valuable to the ecosystem and have taken years to rebuild.

Just remember, the Times is disagreeing with the EPA, and more importantly, with all the people who actually live in the states. I'll just let the rest of this stand on it's own.