Despite efforts to protect the environment, however, environmental protection is also experiencing many setbacks, including the undoing of many environmental protection accomplishments made by previous generations.
The effort to maintain a healthy wolf population is quickly diminishing. According to The Huffington Post, Idaho’s wolf population experienced a 23 percent drop between 2009 and 2014. Furthermore, Idaho, which had only 683 wolves in 2012, is spending money to destroy the wolf population gained in the past few decades. Idaho House Bill 470 allocated $400,000 to sponsor “all activities associated with legal lethal means of control” of wolves. Originally, the cost suggested by the Idaho House of Representatives was a one-time allocation of $2 million for five years.
“That’s basically two teachers per school district in Idaho who could be paid for, or we can use it to eradicate somewhere between 300 and 400 wolves,” said Mat Erpelding, a member of the Idaho House of Representatives who opposed the bill.
Idaho’s current plan allows for a yearly appropriation, which may stack up to $2 million within five years. The plan is not only an economic waste but also a showcase of dishonesty. Its goal to lower the population to 150 wolves contradicts Idaho’s promise to maintain a population between 518 and 732 wolves.
via The Crimson White :: :: Despite successes, environmental protections still fall short of ideal.