A murder of wolves

This "debate" is maddening. When we talk about removing wolves' "protections," we're not talking about taking them off the welfare rolls, or eliminating their access to food stamps. We're not talking about bias-protection or the family leave act. We're talking about permitting anyone -- ranchers, hunters, some guy riding along in a pickup truck -- to kill wolves at will.

Gray wolves were first protected in 1974, one of the first animals to be covered by the Endangered Species Act, which was passed a year earlier. But it turned out there were none left to protect across most of the West. That led to the idea of reintroduction, which began in 1995.

Yeah, they're resilient. Until you put a bounty on their tails.

And it'd be great if our latte-sipping reporters would not accept as fact anything a rancher says because, of course, he's an authentic western figure who must be revered for his straight talk. When he tells NPR that wolves have killed 50 of his sheep, is the NPR reporter incapable of following up to ask, if that's true, isn't he entitled to reimbursement from the Fish and Wildlife Service?