by Jim Beers

One of the great aspects of being a soldier or sailor or hunter or fisherman
or trapper or rancher or farmer is your frequent presence at those mystical
moments when night begins to turn into day.  Whether it is a deer hunter
leaning back before the deer start moving around or a sentry or lookout who
"yearns for the dawn" or a duck hunter placing that last decoy before the
magical "1/2 hour before sunrise" or a rancher avoiding potholes and rabbits
as he heads for a far pasture, the opportunity to witness the first rays of
the approaching sun is something few people ever enjoy, much less see often.

Sometimes it is shafts of red or yellow, sometimes it is a burst of pink or
blue, and sometimes it is a barely noticeable gray that only grows in
intensity without color.  Funny though, while the latter sunrises lack the
beauty and awe of the more colorful sunrises, all sunrises evoke thought and
questions about reality.  What will today be like?  What was the day like
where the sun is coming from?  How is my life going?  What am I doing right?
What am I doing wrong?  What should I try harder to do?   What should I stop
doing?  Who should I try harder to be nice to?  What should I do about (fill
in the blank)?  All of this begins with that first shaft of light.

I beheld such a first shaft of light yesterday.  No it wasn't a sunrise in
the real sense.  It was a shaft of light of hope after 35 years of futility
in the night of governmental excesses growing from environmental and animal
rights laws of the past 35 years.  I had lunch with a man whose intensity,
skill, and experience are focused like a laser on informing the American
public about Russia's history with wolves.

From the time of our Civil War when Russia was under the Czar through the
Soviet period and down to the present, Russian scientists, writers,
historians, hunters and agriculturalists have been documenting an abundance
of wolf experiences, studies, programs, and statistics in writing.  Wolves
have been and remain abundant in Asia during recent history and the majority
of those wolves have existed under Russian jurisdiction and within Russian
society.

This man is writing a book based on translations from these extensive
writings and his experiences in Eurasia.  He is fluent in Russian and he has
a lifetime interest in predators and diseases.  He grew up in Wisconsin and
Texas.  He worked on cattle disease eradication in Mexico and his
understanding of wild animals and disease was as thorough as anyone I have
ever met.  He is under none of the modern delusions about animals or rural
living around the world.  This combination of a realistic outlook and
understanding based on years of travel throughout the world is being brought
to bear on the writing of a book that will document what, in the United
States today, may not be spoken written, or investigated.  That is to say an
examination of the known and historical factors present when wolves and men
live in close proximity.

Why is this a shaft of light?  Because I spent years and lots of money
trying twice to get books about such politically "incorrect" biology
published (to no avail) and he has found a publisher that will consider such
a book.  Like me, he was told that no one would ever touch such a book and
that, in his case, any mention of wolf control or wolves killing people or
wolves spreading disease or wolves viewed in any context other than benign
and positive, no matter in what context, would "ever" be published.  This
refusal of publishers or academics or the media to allow any mention of
things they disapprove of is truly the shame of our time. The fact that a
publisher has been found is very heartening.

Then there is the astounding (to me) range and abundance of Russian
literature on the subject.  One hundred fifty years of wolf observations,
programs, failures and successes with no hidden agendas other than
protecting society is a truly staggering treasure trove of facts in the
midst of the hidden agendas, propaganda, government force, and information
restriction existing throughout the US for the past 35 years.  The
contradiction of Russian information being an antidote to American
environmental propaganda, disinformation, and information suppression still
causes me to smile and shake my head while the shaft of light broadens in my
mind.

The literature, papers, and articles he is translating reflect the necessary
Russian thoroughness and programs over the years as domestic animals and
wildlife and rural Russians were forced to confront wolves.  There is
documentation of wild and domestic animals impacted by wolves and the loss
of human lives throughout the period.  There are the concerns of a broad
range of Russian writers about wolves being a catalyst and vector in the
outbreak and spread of a wide range of bio-organisms of concern to us all.
There are studies and investigations about how wolves carry parasites that
affect humans and livestock.  These parasites can weaken humans and
livestock and lead to debilitating diseases.  For the past 150 years Russia
has had no other agenda regarding wolves except a realistic response to
these very real challenges of living with wolves.

None of these aspects of wolves may be even mentioned in the US today.  None
of these aspects of wolves such as their role in spreading rabies or being
potential vectors of BSE or Mad Cow Disease in cattle or Chronic Wasting
Disease in deer and elk seem to hold any interest for Universities, State
wildlife agencies or Veterinarians in the US today.  They are all too
acutely aware of the politically "correct" aspects of wolves that generate
grants, funding, and fame in order to avoid public attacks, job loss, career
stagnation, or being barred from publication.  There is no open discussion,
no research, and no reporting or concern in our newspapers or electronic
media or indeed anywhere throughout the Federal government about these very
real aspects of living with wolves.

Yes, a sunrise is starting to take shape.  The light of 150 documented years
of human history intertwined with wolves should be of interest and benefit
to everyone.  The information speaks for itself and causes the reader to
ask, why?  Why wasn't this taken into account and the public informed as
forced wolf introductions and Federal protection were proposed and
accomplished?   Why can environmental laws be used to declare an animal so
widely abundant and so hazardous in so many ways, sacrosanct?  Why isn't the
role of wolves being examined as national fear of disease outbreaks and
parasites and vectors that may spread BSE or brucellosis or foot and mouth
disease in livestock becomes more prevalent both nationally and
internationally?  Why aren't there reliable studies ongoing about wolf
impacts on big game as the wolves spread or on the wolf's potential to
spread diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease or rabies in wild animals?
Why, is the potential role of wolves in spreading rabies or even undulant
fever in humans ignored?  What is the impact of wolves on domestic dogs
whether watchdogs or farm dogs or hunting dogs or pets?  Why is there no
recognition (much less identification of factors) that danger to humans from
wolves goes up dramatically under certain conditions?  Why is the entire
history of wolf attacks on humans so studiously avoided and even denied?
Why can governments such as have ruled Russia for the past 150 years (Czars,
Soviets, and today's democratic socialists) maintain a perspective that
their role is to protect humans and their property and agriculture from
wolves while our United States government has evolved to an opposite
perspective of protecting wolves from agriculture and humans?

The mere asking of these questions leads inexorably to the false assumptions
and the undemocratic government actions and information suppression that
underpin so much of the environmental legislation and programs that have
"evolved" over the past 35 years.  Like the inevitable increase in daylight
as the sun begins to rise, increasing the visibility of our surroundings is
the first step in having a successful day.

I believe this pending book is something all Americans will hail after
reading it.  The author is someone to whom we all owe a great debt of
gratitude for his work and persistence in coming this far with this "all
uphill" project.  I believe the impact will eventually (in hindsight
someday) be understood to have begun something far beyond the subject of
wolves or even the recent evolution of a wide range of Federal environmental
legislation.  If it shows us the perverse effects of propaganda and
information control and how an open market of ideas and the free discussion
of facts can once again overcome darkness and intimidation masquerading as
"political correctness", the name of Mr. Will Graves and his book about
wolves in Russia will be remembered and mentioned far beyond our lifetimes.

Good Luck, Mr. Graves.

Please share this with your friends and keep an eye out for this much-needed
book, this shaft of light.

Jim Beers
28 July 2005

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This article and other recent articles by Jim Beers can be found at
http://www.allianceforamerica.org/bb/viewforum.php?f=91

Jim Beers is available for consulting or to speak.  Contact:
JimBeers7@earthlink.net