Dennis Anderson is a highly respected outdoor columnist for the StarTribune in Minneapolis, MN and the following is a part of his recent column addressing the challenge of managing wolves.  The title is "Valid arguments abound for limited hunting of wolves".

Whatever their other attributes, and they are many, wolves are killers, plain and simple. As such, they have earned their share of enemies, no less here, not far from Yellowstone National Park, than in Minnesota, particularly in the north.

Craig Borash lives in West Yellowstone, Mont., but grew up in Chanhassen, where, as a kid, like a lot of young Minnesotans, he learned to hunt and fish. He continues those activities in the West, successfully hunting deer and elk in Montana with his bow, reaching the mountainous backcountry each fall by horseback.

"I've probably killed 40 big-game animals," he said.
But hunting in these parts isn't what it once was, Borsah says, due -- there's little disagreement here -- to the re-introduction and subsequent proliferation of wolves.

"It's just not the same," he said. "Fewer elk, deer and moose, more wolves."

For all the details from Dennis Anderson's column log on to www.startribune.com and search anderson/wolves.

Source: Dennis Anderson - www.startribune.com

Posted by Erl Barsness, Northern Sports Network