To the editor:

Re: “Wolf Hunt Should be Open to Trappers.”

Hunting and trapping wolves is a waste of an incredibly valuable resource. A viable wolf population, which Michigan does not yet have, maintains healthy levels of herd animal populations like deer and elk. Overpopulation of these animals can degrade a wild ecosystem causing erosion and habitat loss. Additionally, recent science has shown that a strong wolf population can control the spread of lyme disease, which has reached near epidemic proportions and which costs the American taxpayer millions of dollars in subsidized healthcare costs. Wolves are far more valuable alive, than as dead targets of trophy hunters and trappers.

Anne Kiley

PULTENEY