Idaho Fish and Game regional supervisor’s comments on this blog proven wrong by events-
For about a year, the SE Idaho regional supervisor of Idaho Fish and Game Department, Mark Gamblin, frequently commented on this blog. He was always polite even though some folks were not in their replies. Of course, he laid out the position of the Department and he did not deviate. Most significantly, he maintained that Idaho Fish and Game was capable, committed, and we could be assured the Department would provide balanced management of the restored wolf population in Idaho.
As for myself and many others who responded, our argument was that Idaho Fish and Game could not provide any assurance that this balanced management would take place. The reason was not that they were untruthful in their claims. The reason was that the department was politically weak and so it could, and would, be overridden by the Idaho state legislature, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission and maybe the governor.
This is not to crow, but just to point out that we were right. Governor Otter abandoned state wolf management completely in hopes of federal legislation that would be harmful to the maintenance of the recovered wolf population. The Fish and Game Department’s wolf management team was abolished and the people involved assigned to other duties.
After thousands of words written here, it is important to state that this argument has been settled.