I have some name-calling of my own to do toward Joe Vandehey and his column on wolves (“Who let the wolves out? Not Secretary Kempthorne,” ODE, 1/31/08). He is a narrow-minded hypocrite. Generally I enjoy reading his opinion pieces, but this time he missed the mark.
I have no particular love for Secretary Kempthorne. I do, however, respect the fact that he is doing his job according to his own sense of right and wrong, as well as following the wishes of the people as he understands them. That is what Mr. Vandehey doesn’t get. Sitting in his comfy chair writing about the plight of those cute, cuddly wolves, he doesn’t realize that there are plenty of people out there who (with some justification) don’t enjoy having wolves living in their backyards. I grew up in rural Idaho and Wyoming among ranchers who vehemently opposed having wolves reintroduced because they see them as a threat to livestock, and thus their livelihood. Of course, they lost that fight because there weren’t very many of them compared to people living elsewhere.
Reintroducing the wolves must have seemed a great idea to anyone who didn’t live anywhere near where the wolves would be. For Secretary Kempthorne, this is a concern for the people back home, and thus it should be a concern for him. Just because Mr. Vandehey doesn’t understand someone else’s viewpoint is not enough reason to be a jerk about it. Then again, maybe he’s just a fool. After all, at least with a fool I could forgive his foolishness.
Thad Call
University student