Wolf hunt is part of the package for Montana delisting

Wolf hunt is part of the package for Montana delisting. Opinion. Daily InterLake

Montana FWP is planning a wolf hunt after delisting, as the opinion happily indicates.

However, FWP has invited wolf conservation groups for their views along with other groups. That is very unlike Idaho.

I also get the impression that a first Montana wolf hunt may be quite experimental and limited in scope because the Commission understands there could be unanticipated side effects of a hunt, and ones not desireable from many points of view. So best to base plans on knowledge, not folk wisdom.

California’s age of megafires: Drought, housing expansion, and oversupply of tinder make for bigger, hotter fires

California’s age of megafires. Drought, housing expansion, and oversupply of tinder make for bigger, hotter fires. By Daniel B. Wood. Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor.

Many factors behind the current California wildlfires are similar to those last summer in Idaho and Montana, except, of course, the sprawl into the “fire plain” is worse, and I haven’t head about a role of any invasive species like cheatgrass.

How Canine Distemper Virus Jumps Across Species

CDV is passed through close contact from domestic and feral dogs causing epidemics that often result in mass mortalities – and is pushing some species to the brink of extinction.

Rest of the story. How Canine Distemper Virus Jumps Across Species. Science Daily.

Wildlife Services, the misnamed federal agency killed 1.6 million animals in 2006

Federal wildlife agents killed 1.6 million animals in ’06. By Matthew Brown. Associated Press.

The federal agency Wildlife Services “serviced” 1.6 million animals last year. Numerically most of them were birds, but a lot of them were animals that many, perhaps most Americans, would rather not see killed to fatten the bottom line for ranchers and aggies.

This agency needs to be abolished and an Invasive Species Control Department created to deal with the plants and animals that really are a threat.