Wyoming Vote Tracker

A multi topic post to fill in for the one that was here:

• Wolves

OK, so wolves are not exactly the most popular species up here (except for target practice ) , but I’m not sure if I am glad at what recently happened or not:

“It’s one of those packs that’s a problem every year,” said Mike Jimenez, leader of the Wyoming Wolf Recovery Project. “We started having problems again, so we removed the bulk of that pack.”

The Carter Mountain pack, whose range is largely on the west side of WYO 120 between Cody and Meeteetse, first started attacking cattle on Forest Service allotments in 2004.

“Initially, we removed two wolves at the beginning of August,” Jimenez said. “We then had a depredation a week later, so we removed nine more.”

11 wolves voluntarily took out by the Feds because the wolves were being a problem? You mean the wolves are predators after all? Say it isn’t so!!!! We know what were talking about here in lil’ ol’ Wyoming???? The one thing that does trouble me about this is that if this story hadn’t been reported (and it had to be pulled out from the FWS rather than voluntary offered) is if the Feds don’t report a wolf pack decrease, they could have the numbers tweaked to their advantage.

Anyway, you might be interested to peruse the FWS Western Grey Wolf home page for more info.

• Winter Use in Yellowstone

The NPS has really doled out the numbers lately. Cost is once again the issue since traditional Howitzer Avalanche mitigation works:

“The folks (in Cody) have said all along they believe we can continue to use the howitzer to mitigate avalanche impacts. Our risk assessment has showed that’s true,” Snyder said.

But for workers to reach the gun, they must first cross 10 avalanche start zones on the northeast side of the pass, which is an unacceptable risk, he said, adding that the gun is in the only spot that can reach all the other start zones.

A remote detonation system can safely set off charges to clear the first 10 start zones, but such a system would be costly, he said. Federal worker safety standards also require building a bunker around the gun site.

A new gun would be required, along with new snow coaches for reaching the area, and the avalanche management staff would have to be doubled in size, Snyder said.

He said very preliminary cost estimates put one-time infrastructure costs for the plan at around $3 million or more, and yearly operation costs at between $1.2 and $1.5 million, compared to current costs of about $300,000 or less.

Snyder said those cost estimates are merely guesses, and refined figures are likely to be higher.

“We can do it, but it is not cheap,” he said.

Considering that the highest level of snowmobile use along Sylvan Pass was around 4,400 riders per year, that would mean a minimum cost of at least $275 per rider, and likely much more, to keep the pass open, Snyder said.

Well, the howitzer opperators have crossed the 10 zones in the past and I’ve yet to hear about someone not completing the journey. Quit playing with the zero-risk thing because it just can’t happen. There is always some risk. I still contend that if it’s such a huge risk, have the Governor send up some National Guard soldiers. They love firing big guns like that. And if it truly is money, then by all means, accept the financial offers of Park County and the State of Wyoming.

And then remember all those comments that were sent in? Well, once again, everyone but Wyomingites opposed snowmobiles:

Seventy-three percent of people who commented on the winter-use plan for Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks said they favor eliminating recreational snowmobiling from the parks, according to a report released Friday.

The National Park Service collected 122,190 comments on the proposed plan from March to June. Of those, more than 88,900 said they want snow coaches to be the only form of transportation in the park during winter.

Some interesting location stats followed:

• Most comments from California, with more than 21,000, followed by New York, Florida and Washington.
• In Wyoming, almost 3,500 people submitted comments.
• Of those, 167 came from people in Jackson and 462 came from residents of Cody.

Other points of interest:

• Ninety-four percent of people who commented agreed that snowmobiling destroys the natural “soundscape.”
• And slightly fewer, 93.8 percent, said previous studies have already evaluated snowmobile use in Yellowstone and that the current environmental impact statement is unneeded or a waste of money.
• less than two-tenths of 1 percent, or 193 people, favored the park’s plan (there are intelligent folks out there!).
• More than 3,200 people, or 2.7 percent, said they want a plan that expands recreational snowmobile use in the park.

Of course, according to Spokesman Al Nash, they won’t decide solely on what the people say. Well, we’ll have to see when they decide, and if it does line up anti-snowmobile, can we assume they decided by the majority?

Technorati Tags: wolves, Yellowstone National Park, winter use, public comments

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