Hundreds show support in Cody for state to manage predator
By Richard Reeder, Cody Enterprise, May 24, 2010 [here]
The wolf impact rally in Cody on Saturday attracted several hundred people to talk about the future of the gray wolf.
The rally in City Park, held on a blustery cool day, was sponsored by the Cody Country Outfitters and Guides, and Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife groups. It featured a variety of speakers hoping to educate the public about the need for delisting the predator.
For one of the first times in a public event, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation executive director David Allen shared his group’s views about the wolf issue.
“We were not at the table when we needed to be,” he said. “But now we are all about getting back to our foundation’s roots.
“We won’t wander off point anymore - we are a hunter conservation group,” he added. “And we support sound, science-based management by the state of the wolf.”
Allen said the dispute about wolves isn’t just about the predator, but is an ideological war between hunters and environmental groups.
He said he believes there are strong anti-gun and anti-hunting agendas driving the ongoing legal battles about delisting.
Allen said ultimately sportsmen and hunters will pay for whatever outcome results from the wolf controversy.
“Once this is all over, the environmental groups will walk away and we will have to clean up the mess,” he said. “Hunters and sportsmen have created the wildlife system in the West.” … [more]