02/25/2025
‼️‼️ Hello Wolf Advocates United ‼️‼️
Please read this excellent article chocked full of information we need!!
Here’s my rant, something I don’t do much. Please read it all carefully before jumping to conclusions. I know it will be hard for some of you, but if you care about our wild places, it’s worth hearing this out.
I can’t shake the feeling that our Western way of life, everything generations before us worked so hard to preserve, is under threat.
Our public lands, whether managed by the Forest Service, National Parks, or the BLM, generate over $500 million in annual revenue in Park County, MT alone. Tourism dollars lead the way, supporting generational mom-and-pop businesses, guides, outfitters, and hunting opportunities that fill freezers for families who depend on them, and essential grazing leases for local ranchers. Our livestock growers help feed the nation. This isn’t just spare change, it’s the backbone, heart, and soul of our local economy.
But this fight isn’t just about dollars and cents. These lands offer something even more valuable: clean water and air, memories made with our children, and places of refuge when you need to catch your breath. You can’t put a price tag on that.
I’m all for cutting waste, draining the swamp, and trimming government where it’s bloated. Those changes are long overdue. There’s no doubt that some of those federal job cuts were justified. I’ve heard the same stories you probably have about people sitting behind desks, collecting big paychecks without doing much in return. That’s real, and it’s fair to address it.
But let’s not paint this situation with one broad brushstroke.
Plenty of hardworking men and women, those out there every day managing our trails, protecting wildlife, ensuring clean water, and safeguarding our wild spaces, lost their jobs too. People who made sure our lands weren’t being exploited or mismanaged. This time, the cuts went too far.
So, don’t get all fired up thinking, “My government’s doing this, so it must be entirely good.” It’s okay to question whether good intentions have crossed a line, especially when those choices start threatening the things that matter most: our access to public lands, wildlife protections, and the delicate balance of our ecosystems.
In Montana, there’s been a noticeably aggressive stance on predators lately. Believe it or not, I’m all for predator management; wolves, mountain lions, and yes, even bears need to be managed sometimes. It’s a necessary part of maintaining healthy ecosystems and protecting the balance that sustains other wildlife populations.
But lately, it feels like things are going too far.
Several bills have been drafted that weaken protections for predators, shifting the focus from thoughtful management to overly aggressive control. These decisions need to be made by unbiased, professional biologists who have healthy ecosystems in mind. And those decisions should be made collectively, by a community of experts who bring diverse perspectives to the table. That’s how we ensure the most thoughtful and balanced outcomes.
At the same time, the real danger comes when short-term profits, political agendas, emotional needs and special interests try to curate the wild for their own narrow goals. But there’s another side to this issue that’s just as dangerous: ballot-box biology.
That happens when voters, driven by emotion instead of science, push for policies that disrupt ecological balance. Some vote for more wolves on the landscape because they want to see them more often, or assume that if they haven’t personally seen a mountain lion, the species must be near extinction. These emotional reactions, while well-meaning, can be just as harmful as profit-driven motives if they’re not grounded in ecological science.
Wildlife management should never be based on feelings, fear, or fairy tales. It should be guided by sound science, real data, and professionals who understand the complex relationships that govern ecosystems. Our ultimate goal should be a balanced ecosystem, where hunters, outfitters, ranchers, wildlife photographers, and mushroom pickers can all thrive together.
I believe that balance is possible. I’ve seen it firsthand. This year, I killed two elk in Montana to feed my family, meat that will fill our freezer and sustain us through an entire year. I’ve also gone out and filmed mountain lions, grizzly bears, and wolves, apex predators doing what they’ve done for millennia, keeping ecosystems in balance.
The common denominator? A healthy ecosystem.
A healthy ecosystem doesn’t cater to any one group’s special interests, it allows everyone to thrive. Hunters, outfitters, ranchers, wildlife photographers, trappers & tree-huggers can all share the land if the land itself is managed with balance and respect for its natural processes. That means wide-open spaces, wild lands, clean water, fresh air, and ecosystems allowed to function as nature intended.
When humans try to simplify nature or control it to meet their expectations, the balance is lost, and the wild becomes something artificial.
I’ve seen this happen around the world.
In Europe, I’ve walked through managed forests so tightly controlled they’ve lost their diversity. Predators are gone, prey species are uniform, and trees grow in perfect rows. On the surface, it’s beautiful, but beneath that, it’s hollow. Nature stripped of its wildness.
In South Africa and Texas, I’ve seen how management turns into privatization. High fences enclose game ranches, ecosystems are manipulated for profit, and for the right price, you can hunt a big buck or a Cape buffalo raised like livestock. That’s not conservation, it’s agriculture wearing the mask of wilderness.
Now, I see the same dangerous progression creeping into the Western United States.
It starts with privatizing access, handing over power to wealthy landowners and a few businesses who want exclusive rights to wildlife. Then comes the push to “curate” forests, removing deadwood deemed as waste instead of recognizing it as habitat essential for countless species. Water that naturally flows to the ocean is seen as wasted potential, instead of the lifeblood of ecosystems that sustain fish, forests, and, ultimately, all of us.
Efforts are already underway in places like Utah to wrest control of federal lands from the public and hand them over to those who see dollar signs instead of ecosystems. Meanwhile, Montana’s Crazy Mountains are quietly being privatized through land exchanges, stripping away access that has been part of our heritage for generations.
We may agree with other actions this administration has taken. Draining the swamp? Long overdue. Cutting government waste? Necessary. But draining the swamp should never come at the expense of the actual swamps, forests, and wild places that define our heritage. Loyalty doesn’t mean blind agreement.
Our rangers, biologists, guides, outfitters, and land managers are essential stewards of these lands, ensuring they remain healthy and accessible for future generations. If we lose them, our lands will be left vulnerable to mismanagement, exploitation, and neglect. You might not believe this will happen, but why leave it to chance?
If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. History shows that when greed, short-term thinking, or emotional reactions drive policy, everyone suffers, except those at the top. These lands belong to all of us, rich or poor, and they’re not for sale to the highest bidder.
This isn’t just bad policy, it’s personal. You’re threatening my children’s future memories and taking food off the plates of hardworking families.
It’s time to stop managing the wild to serve special interests, political agendas, or emotional reactions, and instead focus on what truly matters: maintaining healthy, balanced ecosystems that work for everyone.
Speak up. Contact your government officials; local, state, and federal, and let them know where you stand. Our wild lands, our ecosystems, and our heritage are worth fighting for. Don’t let this slip away.
Park County Commissioners:
• Mike Story – [email protected]
• Bryan Wells – [email protected]
• Jennifer Vermillion – [email protected]
Montana State Legislators:
• Senator John Esp, Senate District 30 – [email protected]
• Representative Scott Rosenzweig, House District 57 – [email protected]
• Representative Jamie Isaly, House District 58 – [email protected]
Governor Greg Gianforte
[email protected]
U.S. Senators:
• Senator Steve Daines – [email protected]
• Senator Tim Sheehy – [email protected] (via contact form at sheehy.senate.gov/contact)
U.S. Representative:
• Representative Troy Downing, Montana’s 2nd Congressional District – [email protected] (via contact form at downing.house.gov/contact)
