Letters to the editor: wolf hunts, wasted time, the runaway Legislature and switching parties
Wolf hunts
Mortality reports show that as of Nov. 15, 347 wolves have been killed in Idaho. One-hundred-sixty-six were killed in the “general hunt”, 132 died a cruel death in traps, 21 for “predator control”, 26 by USDA Wildlife Services. How can hunting from the air or on machines be considered sport or fair chase? Animals have no chance at all to escape from that kind of “hunt.”
The “hunters” and trappers that killed them were “reimbursed” by the Foundation for Wildlife Management with a bounty of $1000 - $2500 per dead wolf. F4WM received funds provided by the Wolf Control Board and by a Challenge grant from Idaho Department of Fish and Game for a total of $108,750. F4WM then disburses “reimbursement” to its members for each killed wolf. The pelts are then sold on the fur market.
Idaho Department of Fish and Game has sold its soul to the Foundation for Wildlife Management, the livestock industry, and trophy hunting groups with the blessing of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission. We need answers to a number of questions, and I hope you will begin asking them.
Christine Gertschen, Sun Valley
Wasted time
After reviewing the results of the just-completed session of the Idaho Legislature, I can only conclude that this exercise was a total waste of time and money. The only useful outcome was the repair of the legislature’s tractor. A huge price to pay for tractor repair.
Gary Waymire, Meridian
Runaway Legislature
November 15th marked the reconvening of Idaho’s Runaway Legislature. This assemblage of power-hungry rubes didn’t limit themselves to a vote on Representative Giddings or even focus in on a single bill aimed at micromanaging Idaho’s business community.
Legislators’ lust for power resulted in no less than three dozen bills filling the agenda. A review of the list revealed a large helping of grandstanding sprinkled with premature bills – bills that addressed issues that don’t yet exist. All of this was presented on a platter overflowing its boundaries as the power seekers don’t seem content with regulating women’s bodies, teachers, the practice of medicine, and local government. Now they’ve set their sights on business.
There’s a remedy for this. That remedy is for the business community to announce there will be no more endorsements and not one more penny contributed to the re-election campaigns of those legislators who seek to impose their strict ideology on the rest of us.
My message to Idaho’s business community is: Not one endorsement! Not one penny! Stick to that promise for 2022.
Mary Ollie, Bonners Ferry
Switching parties
As Bob Kustra suggests, Nov. 21 op-ed, it’s time for a guerrilla attack on the Republican wing-nut primary by moderates, Independents and Democrats.
So call your county elections office and learn how to legally vote in the restricted “Republican-only” primary.
And don’t forget to red-tag the wing-nuts listed by Jean McNeil of Boise in her letter to the editor.
Finally, the primary election is the appropriate time to award the Scarlet Letter to candidates Priscilla Giddings and Janice McGeachin for their obnoxious political behavior.
But in this case, the “A” is not Hester Prynne’s symbol of triumph over hypocrisy, but a message from the voters: Adios.
Wayne de la Motte, Boise
