Hearing What We Want to Hear

On 18 May, 2014 I spoke to a group of rural Californians and Oregonians at a Community Center in the small town of Dorris, California close by the Oregon border and the larger community of Klamath Falls, Oregon.  A copy of that talk, that I followed verbally as best I could, can be had if you e-mail me at [email protected] and ask for the article (talk) titled “WOLVES as STALKING HORSES”.

After the talk a young lady reporter for an Oregon paper came up and asked me some questions for an article she planned to write.  I answered the questions and offered her one of the 2 copies of the talk I had in my briefcase.  We parted quite amicably and I hoped for a square deal in her reportage.

The article she wrote and her paper, the Klamath Herald and News, published can be read in its entirety at the end of this article.  The following is an answer to this young lady and her paper about the article, not to castigate them but to clarify to those that were misled by this article about a 40-year wildlife biologist/bureaucrat/whistleblower trying his best to assist rural Americans that are increasingly being harmed by excessive federal power, terribly damaging legal precedents and wolves in particular that provide all manner of “slippery slope” precedents that diminish property rights and the economic and social quality of rural American life; just like outlandish environmental claims have led from the closure of power plants, smelters, irrigated farming operations and hunting to the joblessness, solar power farms owned by foreigners and children of powerful politicians and the persistently declining national economy that has so many Americans, both rural and urban, feeling dread when they consider their children and grandchildren’s future.  As they say, the following is a “point-by- point” clarification of (my opinion) a purposeful distortion of the truth.

Beers “said the biggest danger wolves pose is their ability to contract and spread disease.”

-          Although I try hard not to baffle listeners with hyperbole or complexity, I have reread what I wrote and thought hard to remember what I said and nowhere can I find where I said “disease” is the “biggest danger” of wolves.  It certainly may be that during certain (rabies/anthrax/brucellosis/Mad Cow/Chronic Wasting Disease/distemper/hookworms/plague/Neospora caninum/ Foot-and-Mouth/anthrax/etc.) outbreaks those affected may rightly say that an honest exposure of the role of wolves in contracting and spreading such diseases and infections would certainly qualify the wolves’ role in such outbreaks as constituting their (the wolves) “biggest danger.”  Spreading tapeworms and the wolves’ role in such contamination of rural America while vehemently denied by self-serving bureaucrats, and veterinarians and medical doctors that avoid any entanglement in topics their customers and supporters will not tolerate being questioned (wolves are like climate change in this regard) will inevitably no longer be able to be denied as wolf populations expand exponentially and encounter urban areas with food; wolf densities continue to rise to previously undocumented densities; and children, adults and dogs increasingly become contaminated with tapeworms but will sadly go un-diagnosed (finding such cysts and recognizing their presence is no mean matter) for long periods with the deadly and debilitating cysts that infect the vital organs of those contracting tapeworms becoming more and more dangerous and tricky to remove.  See p. 12 & 13 of the talk.

“Bigger” than a jogger run down, killed and eaten?  “Bigger” than your kids pet dog torn apart before her eyes in the yard buy wolves?  “Bigger” than the loss of your ranch or the hunting guide job Dad no longer has?  “Bigger” than a son lost to wolves that killed and ate him?  “Bigger” than the loss of a 4^th or 5^th generation livestock business?  “Bigger” than the loss of rural tax income that hobbles local communities and Local government services and authority?  Take your pick, I have certainly never thought that any of these were the “biggest” but our lady reporter was merely setting the introductory stage for the next sentence.

Beers “implied that smallpox may one day be leaked from chemical weapon arsenals, contracted by wolves and spread among human populations.”

-          I should have worn a tin hat with a propeller on it.  What a kook I must appear to be?  What I said and have written for years is/was that smallpox was credited by many early settlers as being a noticeable factor in the deadly spread of smallpox among Indian villages. The young lady infers that I mentioned” chemical weapon arsenals” leaking to infect wolves.  Earth to reporter; there are tons of weaponized smallpox stockpiles in several locations around the world INCLUDING locations near to (radical, terrorist, peace-loving) Moslem enclaves like the recently appearing Islamic State of Iraq (Levant) and Syria (ISIS), Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. Might not intelligent Americans be concerned about the possibility of a clandestine terror incident involving smallpox dispersal or a smallpox-laden missile launched from an offshore cargo ship?  Might not thinking Americans wonder about the advisability or wisdom of forced government introduction, spread and protection of a smallpox vector like wolves?  Hah, hah yourself.

“There’s been no known smallpox virus that can transmit from human to wolf to human, said Doug McGinnis, a veterinarian at the West Ridge Animal Hospital in Klamath Falls.”

-          Early settlers credited the lightening spread of smallpox from village to village on the Great Plains to wolves eating the dead and dying Indians and wolf contact with the infected clothes and blankets either sold to or stolen by the Indians.  I note that the esteemed Veterinarian mentions “no known smallpox virus that can transmit from human to wolf to human”.  Can wolves transmit such viruses (like Mad Cow prions or anthrax bacterium) on their fur or between their toes to contaminate other wolves, dogs and coyotes?  If smallpox is weaponized, are the “scientists” so dumb that they are making a viral weapon of mass destruction that can be easily contained by isolating humans?  Animal Hospital customers are generally not trusting of someone that tells them any animal is dangerous or that killing any animals individually, routinely or for some human benefit (other than euthanasia at a certified Hospital).

“According to John Stephenson, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator. The potential for human exposure to (tapeworm) eggs from the feces of infected wolves is low, because few people encounter or handle wolf feces,”

-          Dear John, you do not have to “encounter or handle wolf feces” to become infected with tapeworm eggs.  They can remain viable for more than a year in a broad area (3-10 ft.?) where an infected wolf or dog has defecated like a yard or school bus stop (NM) or campground like the one frequented by the MN wolf that attacked a young man last summer, etc.  The eggs can adhere to boots or shoes you wear into the house.  Thee eggs can live in the carpet on which your grandkid plays with his Tonka toy and then eats the candy he dropped or puts his hand in his mouth with eggs on them.  Your dog can pick up the eggs from eating wolf feces or mouthing an item a wolf recently mouthed and the dog can bring it into the house or your kids’ bed to lick them goodnight or to lick the cut on their hand.  Why these self-serving conflicts of interest by bureaucrats justifying all manner of mischief (the nice word) are still sought and quoted after years of lying about big game and livestock and dogs and human attacks is beyond baffling and only serves to reconfirm PT Barnum’s observation about suckers.

 “According to John Stephenson, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator, evidence has shown Northern Rocky Mountain wolves, which inhabit the Northwest, do not commonly enter cities and towns.”

-          Dear John and Lacey, what I have said and continue to say is that wolves initially released and collared were tracked by satellite and that the bureaucrats were surprised at how they used roads and trails at night and how they frequented rural home sites and outbuildings routinely in their wanderings.  Furthermore, save your romance biology for someone on the Nat Geo channel.  The business that “Northern Rocky Mountain wolves, which inhabit the Northwest, do not commonly enter cities and towns” is a silly assertion given a patina of authority meant to hide a very dirty and purposely misleading lie.  Wolves are wolves whether small “Mexicans” in a desert or furtive “Reds” in Eastern forests or your imaginary “Northern Rocky Mountain wolves” of the “Northwest”.  They all do what they must to survive.  As they continue expanding their range and as they increase their densities they will learn and behave as necessary just like a Doberman learning what to do to be fed and coddled in an old folks home or a German Shepherd released into the wild; the only real difference being that wolves learn in groups (therefore more quickly) and coyote infiltration of cities clearly portends wolves exploring city fringes and “natural bike/hiking trails” where great harms are as sure as what Moslems are doing to Christians in Moslem lands as you read this.

“Beers said the “radical” agencies authorized to implement and enforce the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which provides protections for some wolf populations, will not accept responsibility for the harm that comes from wolves and need to have their authority to enforce species protections removed.”

-          Does anyone remember the “Cost/Benefit Ratio?”  Let’s see, wolves 1.steadily put livestock producers out of business; 2.decrease big game populations, big game hunting, rural hunting revenue, and state conservation revenue; 3.kill pet dogs, hunting dogs, working dogs, watch dogs and show dogs; 4. spread deadly and debilitating diseases to humans, domestic animals, and other wildlife; 5.destroy the “domestic Tranquility” of rural parents, rural families, and rural communities; and 6. Diminish Local government and local communities’ Tax Revenue and Authority: we call these “COSTS.” Humbug about “Native Species” “Belonging” somewhere; silliness about willows along streams that, if really important, could have been achieved with hunting and management of grazing animals; reams of articles and hours of TV about imaginary benevolence, purity, and “cuddly nature” of wolves et al for the entertainment of children and urban progressives are all what we term “Benefits.”  Thus do the Costs (also called “Harms”) of wolves far outweigh the “Benefits.”  So who “accepts responsibility?”  Like the former Secretary of State said of Benghazi, “I was responsible but I didn’t make the security decisions”, the agencies responsible for hiding the truth and denying the harm they perpetrate on their fellow citizens accept NO responsibility.  I use the term “radical” to describe them while knowing much stronger terminology is justified though even this piddling description evidently evokes smarmy smirks and contempt.  Remember that all of the foregoing was not even possible until federal wolves were forcibly inserted in The Lower 48 after being legally and at great expense of time and treasure exterminated by those that lived with and knew what wolves do.  Who is “responsible” for this tragedy?  Who in their right mind can continue to support such agencies abusing rural Americans in such ways?

“Beers said urban teachers, media reporters, billionaires, actors and nature program producers making money off promoting wolves are behind the propaganda environmental protections for species.  Beers also pointed to Bill Gates and organizations he has donated money to as a part of the problem. They prey on modern guilt about civilization harming our natural surroundings and offer as the only solution human reductions and a shrinking of the human presence, Beers’ said.”

-          Yep, I said that and after years of speaking and writing and arguing this point, I firmly believe it.  Bill Gates is only one of many such rich folks trying to control the rest of us through such government influence and force.

To paraphrase what a gangster once said in an old B&W movie, “Yeah copper (i.e. Lacey), that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.”

Jim Beers

15 June 2014

 

The article:

Worries about wolves

  Wolf opponents list multiple reasons against reintroduction

  By LACEY JARRELL • H&N Staff Reporter

    DORRIS, Calif. — More than 100 people gathered Sunday at the Dorris Community Center to hear about wolf reintroduction and its potential impact on the West. The meeting was hosted by Protect our Property, a group aimed at preserving rural communities. “I don’t want to see the wolf come here and do what it has in other places,” said organizer Bert Holzhauser. Jim Beers, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who was the main speaker, said the   biggest danger wolves pose is their ability to contract and spread disease. Unlike raccoons, skunks or a coyote, he said, wolves travel long distances. Beers listed 30 infections associated with wolves, including Echinococcus granulosus tapeworms and smallpox.       He implied that smallpox may one day be leaked from chemical weapon arsenals, contracted by wolves and spread among human populations.

  “There’s been no known smallpox virus that can transmit from human to wolf to human,” said Doug McGinnis, a veterinarian at the West Ridge Animal Hospital in Klamath Falls.

  According to John Stephenson, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator, human exposure to tapeworms is most common in rural communities when dogs are fed or scavenge raw internal organs from infected domestic animals, elk or deer.   “The potential for human exposure to (tapeworm) eggs from the feces of infected wolves is low, because few people encounter or handle wolf feces,” Stephenson wrote in an email.

  Visiting cities

  Beers also stated that wolves routinely travel through ranch and farms. “As they spread — and remember you heard it here first — they are going to even   get bold enough to take paths in and out of the cities at night,” Beers said.

  According to John Stephenson, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator, evidence has shown Northern Rocky Mountain wolves, which inhabit the Northwest, do not commonly enter cities and towns.

  “They steer clear of human settlements for the most part,” he said. “In the Northwest, wolves pose a lower risk to humans than cougars.”

  ESA oversteps bounds

  Beers said the “radical” agencies authorized to implement and enforce the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which provides protections for some wolf populations, will not accept responsibility for the harm that comes from wolves and need to have their authority to enforce species protections removed.

  “I’m ready to do it. I think (ESA-associated agencies) are overstepping whatever their authority was supposed to be and they take it too far. There are too many rules and regulations   . If somebody wanted to comply, I don’t know how they would. I’m not real fond of environmentalists to begin with,” said Patsy Mohler from Red Bluff in Tehama County. She and her husband, Tom, were in the Basin for a State of Jefferson meeting in Del Norte County, Calif.  

  Bruce Ross, a spokesman for California assemblyman Brian Dahle, said California officials are about to begin discussing whether to list the gray wolf under the ESA state protections.

  “The assemblyman thinks that’s a bad idea,” Ross said.

  Beers said he does believe appropriate uses of the ESA   exist, but could not offer any examples. He said in almost any instance he could think of regarding ESA protections, the regulations created “bubbles” around the protected animals and eliminated the resource value to society.

  “It should be presented in such a way that it’s bearable and it’s willing to go along with the local community,” he said.

  One-sided effort

  Beers said urban teachers, media reporters, billionaires, actors and nature program producers making money off promoting wolves are behind the propaganda environmental protections for species.  

  Beers also pointed to Bill Gates and organizations he has donated money as a part of the problem.

  “They prey on modern guilt about civilization harming our natural surroundings and offer as the only solution human reductions and a shrinking of the human presence,” Beers’ said.  

If you found this worthwhile, please share it with others.  Thanks.

Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow. He was stationed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, and Washington DC.  He also served as a US Navy Line Officer in the western Pacific and on Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands.  He has worked for the Utah Fish & Game, Minneapolis Police Department, and as a Security Supervisor in Washington, DC.  He testified three times before Congress; twice regarding the theft by the US Fish & Wildlife Service of $45 to 60 Million from State fish and wildlife funds and once in opposition to expanding Federal Invasive Species authority.  He resides in Eagan, Minnesota with his wife of many decades.

Jim Beers is available to speak or for consulting.  You can receive future articles by sending a request with your e-mail address to:   [email protected]