Gray wolves have a way of igniting fierce debates.  Working to promote wolf recovery in Wallowa County, we here at Oregon Wild are used to that.  However, even the most jaded Oregon Wild staffer wasn’t quite prepared for some outlandish comments made by Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) President David Allen last week. 

They came in an article on wolf conflicts in Oregon that ran in several Oregon newspapers and other media outlets:

More wolves will simply mean a need for more management, said David Allen, president and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, a nationwide group with 185,000 members. To keep wolf populations controlled, he said, states will have to hold hunts, shoot wolves from the air and gas their dens.

"Natural balance is a Walt Disney movie," he said. "It isn't real."

Pardon my bluntness, but under Allen the RMEF has gone off the rails.

Allen, who’s career includes stints in marketing for Wrangler blue jeans and NASCAR, took the wheel at RMEF in 2007.  The organization was once a respected voice for wildlife and public lands conservation, with a reputation for scientific integrity.  Historically, they took no position in battles over wolves, grizzlies, wolverine and other keystone species that are unpopular in some political circles.  However, under his leadership that has changed.  RMEF seems to believe that for species like wolves, which some in the hunting community do not like, science is irrelevant and extinction is ok.

That Allen disregards predator-prey relationships outlined in Biology 101 textbooks around the country, and views "natural balance" as a myth, isn't the worst of it.  Last year, RMEF turned their backs on decades of habitat conservation and endorsed reckless legislation in Congress that would have opened up over 60 million acres of pristine roadless lands to oil and gas development, logging, and mining.  Decades of research has show that roadless areas are incredibly important for elk, and Allen’s decision sparked an intense backlash by RMEF members.  Faced with an internal revolt, the organization later backtracked.

Oregon Wild and RMEF share a common heritage.  Back in 1974, elk hunters concerned about the destruction of roadless areas were among Oregon Wild’s founders.  Even today, elk hunters are well-represented within Oregon Wild’s membership and staff.  That is why we find the positions being taken by RMEF, including the gassing of wolf pups in the den, to be so astounding. 

The overwhelming majority of hunters support conservation, and wish to see Americas wildlife heritage preserved.  It is too bad that Allen seems to ignore those moderate voices, focusing instead on the extreme few who view wolf recovery as a bad thing, but the destruction of prime elk habitat by oil and gas development as progress.