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Soon-to-be former Siskiyou Supervisor insults
ranchers of "big bad wolf hysteria", preceded by response by
local ranchers 9/20/12
Letter by Dorris rancher Shirl Woodson in response to
Siskiyou Supervisor Jim Cook's letter below:
Obviously this really angers me, the farmers, ranchers and
citizens of Dorris who belong to the Protect Our Property group
must all be a bunch of stupid bumpkins who are delusional as
well as 'hysterical'. Too bad Jim is ill informed of all of our
efforts to date. Perhaps if our meetings would be attended by
members of our board of supervisors they would know what we have
done to date, (including the reams of research materials and
instructions for pro-activity we have compiled for attendees).
We've been averaging 50 or more attendees at our meeting and we
sure aren't exchanging news about the weather. These meetings
are not about telling sad tales about imaginary wolves, they are
about laying out a proactive plan. We were told yesterday 3 of
the board (members) would be attending "a meeting" out of town
tomorrow thereby not able to attend ours tomorrow night, I guess
that in addition to being 'hysterical' I can't count either, I
think we have more than 3 on the board of supervisors.
And...obviously they were afraid to identify what type of
meeting that they were to attend lest we become even more
hysterical - attached is my "mythical" wolf print taken last
thurs. I am happy to say that our meetings have been regularly
attended by Sheriff Lopey, Erin Ryan from Doug LaMalfa's office,
citizens from Scott Valley, citizens from Klamath & Modoc
Counties and members of various police departments as well as
members of Basin media. I left the BOS meeting yesterday feeling
good that our board was looking out for our interests. Today
that feeling has been washed away by this very unprofessional
and somewhat childish letter by a man who was voted into office
by the very citizens he lam-basts. I am quite disturbed about
the tone of Cook's letter, obviously my vote was misplaced in
the election that put him in office originally. It is my hope
that instead of seeing us as the enemy, Mr. Cook calmly work
with us and leave his childish references in a book of fairy
tales. You not only insulted the people you represent, but other
members of the Board of Supervisors.
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To Mr. Cook from Molly
Young:
Dear Mr. Cook,
I just received your e-mail
and find your comments to be
very out-of touch with
reality or perhaps the CA.
Fish and Game are giving you
their spin. I only know of a
couple of wolf sightings in
the Butte Valley and
surrounding area, not Dorris,
per se, around the time that
the media wolf was traveling
through. Although there are
no photos of the existing
animal, there are
photographed wolf footprints
in snow or in mud. I have
not yet seen any hysterical
people running around!
However, we HAVE developed a
non-profit community
organization called P.O.P.
(Protect Our Property),
P.O.Box 7, Dorris, CA.
96023, to fight the proposal
that has been presented by
various environmental groups
based in Portland, OR.,to
give wolves CA.ESA
protection. The Butte Valley
community support has been
very strong against ESA
status.
From many studies made on
the wolf and it’s affect on
rural communities, perhaps
the most enlightening one
you could read is the Catron
County, New Mexico, Non-
essential Wolf
Reintroduction Program,
updated in 2012. A book I
would suggest is
“Yellowstone Wolves, A
Chronicle of the Animal, the
People, and the Politics” by
Cat Urbigkit.
I also note that you say the
wolves are a threat to the
ranchers running stock in
the outlying hills and on
Forest Service grounds.
That’s a given, but surely
you didn’t mean the outlying
hills in the Butte Valley
area?
Mollie Young
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Letter to
ranchers by Siskiyou Supervisor
Jim Cook 9/19/12
The big bad wolf
hysteria continues in the Dorris
area. Are wolves a threat to
ranchers running stock in
outlying hills and on Forest
service ground, of course they
are. Should they be encouraged
to establish packs in No. Cal or
S. Ore, of course not. Are there
wolves hiding behind every wood
pile in Dorris, doubtful. So
what can we do?
First of all
PROVE there are more than one
wolf in our area and not just in
Plumas County. I spoke with a
representative of the Ca. Fish
and Game and they are willing to
LOAN a trail camera to ranchers
who continue to see mythic
wolves in the Dorris area. They
will hand the camera to you,
show you how to use it and
you can put it where
the mythical wolves have been
reported. You get
to review the photos first
before you show them to the CDFG
so the agency can’t be accused
of any hanky-panky.
Second, write the
Fish and Game Commission, use
the science that the County has
put in our letter so it isn’t
just whining.
Attend and speak
at the Fish and Game Commission
meeting on the October the 3rd
or 4th if the
petition is heard then as
planned (The County testified at
the Fisher listing hearing and
we made a difference, We
testified at the dog hunting
hearing, and we were the only
County to do so)
But DO NOT WAIT
FOR THE HEARING, the decision
may have already been made in
their minds. Meet with your
State Senator and Assemblyman
and ask them to give you
specific actions to take, as
well has how to talk to the
people who will actually be
making the decision now! Not
later.
Read the
Department of Fish and Games
petition evaluation so you know
what is happening.
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=54322&inline=1
For your
information the Board has been
actively opposing wolf pack
establishment in Siskiyou
County. I have met with the
local and the California State
Farm Bureau in Sacramento and
discussed strategy, including
legal options. I have met with
the California Cattlemen’s
Association in Sacramento to
discuss lobbying and legal
strategies. I have met with
lobbyist and staff in Sacramento
to oppose the candidate status
listing.
On Thursday I
will NOT be in Dorris for the
wolf information meeting,
instead I will at a conference
meeting with Tehama, Lassen,
Plumas, and Modoc Supervisors to
develop a strategy to oppose
wolf pack establishment
coordinating with Farm Bureau
and Cattlemen’s. I feel a
collaboration of rural counties
and livestock associations will
be more effective than just
sending a letter. I have
contacted Fred Kelly Grant
concerning coordination if the
petition to make wolves a
candidate species is passed. We
are closely monitoring the
results on DNA testing of museum
samples to see how that may
affect a candidate listing. The
Board plans to be at the
Commission hearing to testify.
So anyone who
says the Board of Supervisor’s
isn’t doing anything can put on
their red riding hood and go
skip in the woods.
Jim
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