After being deliberately silent on the wolf issue now for over 15 years, I find I can no longer do so. Some ranchers, outfitters, and those so-called "sportsmen" for fish and wildlife have so distorted the wolf issue, it's time for the general public to know the truth on why the wolf issue has never been solved. The bottom line is that there are large segments of the rural community that will settle for nothing less than complete annihilation of wolves in the West.

First of all, many blame Bruce Babbitt, secretary of Interior under Clinton, for the reintroduction of the wolves in Yellowstone. He did help release the first wolves, but the decision to do the reintroduction was made during the administration of the first George Bush (the good one).

As the introduced wolves multiplied and spread out of the park, the Wyoming Game & Fish Department was charged with coming up with a viable management plan for the wolves. A management plan by the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming was necessary so that the feds would delist the wolves.

After a serious study and planning, the Game & Fish Department of Wyoming came up with a plan. It would designate the wolves as trophy game animals statewide, as were the bears and mountain lions. Numbers would be controlled by setting hunting seasons and the sales of licenses.

A Game and Fish Commission meeting was scheduled for the fall of 2002 in the basement meeting room of the Antlers Motel in Jackson. The morning hours of the meeting were for routine business, with the presentation of the wolf plan set for after lunch. I was there in attendance.

The morning session was sparsely attended but the after lunch meeting played to a standing room crowd. I found out later that Jim Magagna had a special meeting that morning with many ranchers so a plan of attack could be orchestrated in opposition to the wolf plan, although it hadn't been submitted as yet.

Others in attendance were staff members of the Idaho governors' office as well as Game & Fish commissioners from Montana. They had a management plan ready to go and they did everything but get down on bended knees pleading with the Wyoming Game & Commission to adopt the plan. All three states needed federally approved plans in order to get the wolves delisted, area wide.

The plan was discussed and cussed. Those that stacked the deck were successful and as usual, fear won out. The commission refused to embrace the work of the professionals and did not endorse the plan. Had they endorsed the plan, I'm sure a lawsuit by the rural community would have resulted, but one lawsuit handled by anyone but Judge Clarence Brimmer would have probably ended the problem.

The commission, in refusing to adopt the plan from the professional staff, abdicated their authority and therefore allowed an amateurish part-time Legislature to assume the issue knowing full well who rules the show in that body. The commissioners at that time were Dorner (Uinta), Lundval (Park), Fleming (Carbon), Powers (Niobrara), Powers (Laramie), Sanders (Johnson) and Kreycik (Converse). Kreycik and Sanders voted for the plan and showed confidence in their professional staff. Four spineless members voted no. These were Powers, Powers, Fleming and Lundval. Chairman Dorner didn't vote. They let numbers overrule common sense. They showed no faith in their staff and as much as told our neighbors to the north, northwest and the feds to go to hell, and here we are seven years later still producing wolves that are protected.

I'm sure that a prior law change, having the governor appoint the Game & Fish director, helped to influence this decision. It put the department back to the early '30s. Now you know the rest of the story.

Those legislative rednecks need a meeting on the issue. They also need someone like Doug Crowe to explain the problem as it exists and give them a solution. He could do that in about 10 minutes.

And shame on those nasty feds. They own about half of the state, rent most of it out to ranchers for peanuts, give us many more bucks than they collect from us, and provide thousands of good paying jobs. Why don't we tell them to go to hell on these issues, too?

Wolves have brucellosis? We need to farm raise grouse? Ask Doug about those items also.

I find it difficult to believe that the good Lord would put monsters portrayed as wolves on this earth. Not four-legged ones anyhow.

Dick Sadler served more than 17 years in the Legislature, both as a representative and senator. Fifteen of those years were on the Travel, Recreation and Wildlife Committee.