Keith, lemme bring in a side-issue. I have read that wolf and grizzly behavior was altered to some extent by the early ranchers in the mountain states in that the animals learned a fear that did not particularly exist during the time of the Indian. Thus wolves and bears tended to stay away from herds because of men and dogs.
As usual, homo sap went overboard about killing off perceived "enemies"--until the wolves were gone and the grizzly nearly so. We seem to have a habit of doing that sort of thing...
Now, the predators which are being returned are not only lacking some of this learned pattern of fear of man, they are protected such that they will learn to look upon man and herds as larders.
(Reminds me of my Coastal Zone Management Program daze. You can imagine the cartoons around the office, of "Striking a happy medium" or "Whose ox is gored".)
It bothers me not at all for Gummint to say that for scientific reasons I cannot hunt wolves or bears--there are just not enough of them. It does bother me when Gummint says I am to regard myself and my livelihood as incidental to the "big picture"; that I have no self-defense rights for my herd, and that I must merely sit by and watch if depredation occurs.
This is a "Taking" of a property right, and is subject to the same sort of legal action as any other taking.
But I think that I would not get too terribly bent out of shape if my local resident mama lion and I stayed in a state of argument over her interest in any livestock I might have. I like living with neighbors like that. Dunno if she'll ever get used to me, though.
Ol' Griz on the front porch, however? Somebody's in trouble.
, Art