Questioning the intelligence of the government

To the Editor:

The Endangered Species Act is arguably the worst piece of legislation ever enacted into law.

It owns this distinction because its consequences were not thought out.

The premise of this act is sound enough; saving endangered species from extinction, but the language of the act throws out common sense and relies instead on sentiment. An example of this is the scrapping of the Libby Rereg dam when an eagle nest was discovered on the site of the dam.

Instead of merely chasing the bird away to make its nest elsewhere, the dam project was aborted and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of power generation were lost and continue to be lost, because the main dam can only operate at reduced capacity without the Rereg dam.

The wolf is another example. It is well known that the wolf is a marauding killer. There are countless incidents where it kills just for thrill and does not even feed on its kill.

It was recognized early in the development of the West that the wolf could not coexist with domestic livestock and therefore a federal bounty was imposed on these animals for many years.

After decades of hunting, trapping and poisoning these vicious predators, their numbers were sufficiently reduced to allow livestock growers relief from wolf attacks. Now this effort is negated, because of the insane idea of introducing these animals back into the area.

The idea that the wolf is endangered is absurd. The wolf is one of the most successful predators of all time. With its keen sight, hearing, sense of smell, powerful jaws, remarkable endurance, cunning, and ability to hunt in packs, it is more than a match for any animal it meets except the Grizzly, Brown, and Polar bears.

As the wolf population escalates, reports of animals slaughtered by these vicious beasts are also on the rise. In addition to domestic cattle and sheep, deer, elk, and moose are falling victim in growing numbers. Apparently, ranchers are being compensated by the government if the kills can be proved to be the work of wolves.

The folly of paying out bounties for years in an effort to reduce the wolf production only to repopulate the area with the horrid beasts and then paying out reparations when the inevitable slaughter occurs can only be ascribed to a government grown inefficient, incompetent and stupid.

The American people deserve better government than this.

William Payne

Libby