We do not need to control wildlife populations.

Predators have always managed that balance with no help from man. Any person that is educated in wildlife should already know that PREDATORS SHOULD ALWAYS COME FIRST before hunters. Deer and elk are not here just for us.

This sentiment is not shared by the Fish and Game and the USDA Forest Services. Anytime you see the word "control" by these agencies, it literally means "DEATH." In 2013, Wildlife Services killed more than 3,000 mammals in Idaho using methods such as aerial gunning, neck snares, foothold traps, and toxic devices known as M-44s that spray sodium cyanide into the victim's mouth, causing tremendous suffering while releasing toxic chemicals into the environment.

Explosives were also used to blow up beaver dams that ultimately had an impact on the already "threatened" bull trout because they can only survive in pristine, clear water. Most of these activities were shrouded in secrecy while taxpayers continued to cover the tab.

The "killer bee" - a yellow crop-duster-looking plane whose goal is to gun down wolves and coyotes from the skies in Idaho and Montana - proudly displays all of their kills by "notching" a footprint per animal onto the side of the plane (58 and counting).

I used to hunt on the Lochsa in my twenties. Wilderness areas are technically set aside so that they can regenerate within their own ecosystems. Individual hunters were always allowed to hunt elk and deer in the Lolo hunting zone. As long it was just a few hunters, they shared the elk and deer with the lions and bears, etc. in harmony.

There was an abundance of elk habitat then, but when outfitters became prolific, the elk soon became a commodity. It turned the wilderness area into a commercial enterprise which should never have been allowed. That is what has been going on in the Lolo and lochsa region now for years. Why are they only concerned with elk and nothing else? Because elk are the "cash cow" for the outfitters.

When I heard that there were a total of up to 40 wolves that had been gunned down in Idaho's remote Lolo hunting zone, it didn't make sense to me because there are no livestock problems in wilderness areas. Then I followed the money.

Elk herds had dropped from 16,000 in 1989 to 2,100 in 2010. This was later blamed on the wolf...but the huge drop in elk populations came before the wolves had ever reached the Lochsa, making it impossible for them to be responsible. It is my opinion that this depletion in elk herds was due to a few bad winters in the '90s and excessive overhunting by outfitters and regular hunters in the region. It was too much!

By the time the wolf arrived, the powers that be felt it was necessary to get rid of any competition that could threaten this thriving enterprise that outfitters had been enjoying for years. They started focusing on the wolf, mountain lion and bear. It was all about getting trophy deer and elk.

The Fish and Game recently stated; "Restoring the Lolo elk population will require liberal bear, mountain lion, and wolf harvest through hunting and trapping (in the case of wolves), and control actions in addition to improving elk habitat."

When it was obvious that Wildlife Services only cared about one species in a whole eco system, it became clear that it was only about the outfitters - not the restoring of the Lolo elk population, per se, which is probably the healthiest it has ever been because of the reintroduction of wolves.

Outfitters talk arrogantly of the damage predators do to elk when it never occurs to them that they are responsible for the biggest part of their diminishing numbers. I've never heard anyone ever talk about how vital our predators are or the balance that they provide, but predators have always been the first to take the heat and die for it.

This not only messes up the ecosystem, but it also has an impact on the flora and fauna in our forests. These are supposed to be educated men that are making these decisions on behalf of our wildlife and wilderness areas.

It is my opinion that the only "service" provided by Wildlife Services, is that of genuflecting to whom ever can generate the most money with the blessings of Butch Otter. Their target....which is now literally on the backs of wolves from the sky to resurrect their own short comings....is destroying the only thing that has ever kept elk herds healthy and in check. It is an irony... but it makes perfect sense to an outfitter.

A lawsuit was filed on Feb. 11, 2015, against the USDA Wildlife Services and the Fish and Wildlife Services.

The filing was made by Friends of the Clearwater, Wild Earth Guardians, Center for Biological Diversity, Western Water Sheds Project and Project Coyote......all questioning large-scale wildlife killing in Idaho. They want a transparent and public analysis of these activities with a comprehensive environmental impact statement. It will be interesting.

Truth: When left alone, everything seeks its own balance and that is the balance of nature. This is how it should be in a wilderness area - only then can man take from that excess, insuring that it will always be there for him.

Predator Trivia:

It is the wolf, the wolverine and the bear that have jaws strong enough to crack and break open bones down to the marrow. This starts the first process of decomposition for other mammals and birds, etc. to feed from, thus starting the break down of carcasses back into the earth cycle. Without predators, bones would become so brittle that they would take an infinite amount of time to decompose.

Kevin Brown is a resident of Plummer.