Wolves savaged by management plan
Looking back at the year in conservation policy for 2012 in B.C., the low point just might have been the rollout of the “Draft management plan for the Grey Wolf in British Columbia” by the provincial government’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources.
This is a deeply flawed management plan that contains many scientifically unsound and uninformed objectives. The plan also represents an exaggerated view of the impacts of wolves on both the livestock industry as well as hunting opportunities, while failing to consider the many ecological and economic benefits of having significant wolf populations in B.C.
Further, the recommended management strategies inappropriately conflate and confuse “management” of wolves with conservation of wolves, not recognizing that there is a difference between ensuring the mere existence of populations versus the persistence of populations. The measure of successful wolf management should include the presence of wolf packs with intact social relationships, rather than just the presence of wolves on the landscape.
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