Don't turn county into a 'caribou zoo'

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials concede that woodland caribou are simply in a period of decline and all efforts to re-introduce them here have failed.

Forced to act by an “eco-activist” lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now proposing that nearly 400,000 acres of North Idaho will be declared a new “caribou recovery zone” even though they have no intent to attempt another re-introduction of caribou here.

There is no money for such a program, no planning in place to do so, and since woodland caribou are considered an “at risk” species in Canada — which is the only source of these animals — there are no animals available for another caribou re-introduction project in North Idaho.

There’s an old saying that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.” Denying or restricting access to almost 400,000 acres of our stunning backcountry to tens of thousands of honest, hard-working taxpayers, for a “caribou zoo” project which cannot succeed, is beyond reason and must be stopped.

Please join me in protesting this clearly futile proposal. Send your “no to the caribou recovery zone” comments to the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife before the Jan. 30 public comment deadline at this address:

Public Comments Processing

Attn: FWS-R1-ES-2011-0096

Division of Policy and Directives Management

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042-PDM

Arlington, VA 22203

ROD STAFFORD

Priest River