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JulieKaySmithson (Anonymous) says…

Ranching for Wildlife (RTW) is not something to which all ranchers subscribe. Read the articles nationwide about elk being captive-raised and “re” introduced in places like Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. Did elk EVER live there? Who knows, but the prospect of continually kowtowing to self-proclaimed “environmentalists” eschewing their “visions” for everyone else (from the comfort of their apartments) is not palatable. Ranchers raise food for people. Vegan? There are many products made from ranchraised cattle, including, but far from limited to, medicine to keep people healthy, footwear and clothing to keep people warm and comfortable, etc. If your footwear didn't come from an animal, it came from a petroleum source.

Pick your 'beef.' Are you upset with ranchers for daring to work for and own property and utilize that property, or with oil drillers for daring to work for and own or lease property and utlize the resources under that property?

Happy, yes. Ignorant, no.

JulieKaySmithson (Anonymous) says…

I keep thinking that you'll read the articles and note that the elk this rancher shot were starving. Elk that have plenty of browse/forage do not raid ranchers' haystacks. Those that seek to castigate Culverwell and his neighbors do so without having knowledge of the efforts he made to get the Colorado Division of Wildlife to come to his ranch and help. It is the DOW's responsibility to “manage wildlife.” When overpopulation occurs due to poor or lack of management by a state wildlife agency, several things happen. There are more vehicle/wildlife crashes. Wildlife come to places where there's food (your yard, his haystacks). In town, people call a wildlife control officer (like in the case of the female deer — fleeing a buck with a one-track mind — that crashed through a plate-glass window into a daycare center in Ohio this morning, landing amongst toddlers). Wildlife control officers “humanely shot” her, because she was injured and posed a risk to people. The buck ran into the road and was hit by a car. The buck died; the people in the car went to the hospital. I can already hear the arguments about people “encroaching” into the animals' habitat, but to believe such arguments is to swallow that bait about all people being bad, no matter where it is. The rancher and his neighbors raise beef that you eat. Why not thank him for putting a few starving elk out of their misery? Why not thank him for protecting his life and his property? Things are not the same in rural places like on ranches and farms, as they are in cities. When your biggest concern (in town) is which restaurant you'll visit tonight, consider that people make choices that involve the raising/growing of that food you expect to be available on command. Did you thank a farmer/rancher before you ate today? When a state agency expects private property owners to forsake the feed they have raised and stored for their livestock in order that the poor or non-management of game herds be somehow “mitigated” by stealing the economic health of ranchers/farmers, something's wrong. Choose to see and understand that, or not. It's your choice, but armchair judges are not in high demand.

JulieKaySmithson (Anonymous) says…

If it were “old news,” this paper would not have reported it. This is current news. Ever hear the phrase “overturned on appeal”? Google it and you'll get a mere 306,000 results.

JulieKaySmithson (Anonymous) says…

This is an important property rights case, because the Colorado Division of Wildlife, a state agency, failed to come to Culverwell's ranch when it was called by him in early February 2008. At that time, the DOW could have taken action to remedy the situation of elk starving to death and raiding the haystacks of Culverwell and his neighbors. It is not the duty of private property owners to feed and care for wildlife. Starving, overpopulated wildlife create a danger and a drain on private property and the owners' means of support: Raising crops. If elk decimate haystacks, trample fences and charge people and equipment, the DOW is the agency that should be held accountable, but the DOW refused to come to the Moffat County ranches and document what was happening. Culverwell and other ranchers and property owners do not find joy in starving animals, animals trapped in fences, etc. The DOW seems to feel differently, for it is dodging its duties to both wildlife and the people of Colorado, putting both in harm's way. See propertyrightsresearch (dot) org for much more information on property rights and protecting yours!