I’m probably going to stir up a hornet’s nest but quite frankly I don’t care! I’m sick and tired of the hypocrisy I have been reading about in your paper. The wind turbines up on Bear Mountain kill several bats a year that were probably rabid to start with and we get this great hue and cry but look the other way when ranchers make a game of killing wolves.

Ranchers think they should let their cattle forage for themselves in publicly owned wilderness community pastures all summer then cry foul when some of them get picked off by wolves who belong in that wilderness. And then expect the public to pay compensation for their loss as well.

It’s the same scenario with the deer. Farmers don’t want the expense of fencing in their hay but expect the government to compensate them if the deer get at it. If we have too many deer now maybe it’s because agriculture has opened up too much land for crops.

I don’t hear any one around here complaining about all the birds that get poisoned every year from treated seed or the fish that are dying from fertilizer runoff in our lakes and rivers. Because agriculture is essential is no justification to let them operate any differently than any other industry.

Why is it okay to take habitat away from deer, wolves, bear and the like and yet our government just announced habitat protection for caribou in the South Peace? Maybe there’s big money in hunting some species but open season on any wildlife that dare wander onto a ranch or farm.

If we could prove the wind turbines were killing fish, birds, wolves, bear, moose and deer like our agriculture community does with impunity they would be shut down in a heartbeat. I may not be an expert in these matters but it sure looks like hypocrisy to me.

Marcheta Leoppky,

Dawson Creek