RE: Wolf Control ? Preditor control ?
Yeah, wolves certainly do draw attention, especially here in Wyoming. And I have to separate the interests of ranchers with the interests of the outfitters when it comes to their opinions regarding wolves. There's no reason we should have so many wolves (mountain lions, etc.) that they're subsisting at the rancher's expense. Livestock are an opportune treat, and so should control be opportune.
Guides and outfitters, on the other hand, rely more on us to pay them. And we pay them for big bony projections on deer and elk skulls. I'm not sure I'd share the same concern they have with wolves (lions, etc.) and predation on the public animals they rely on to make money. IMO - they don't have a dog in the hunt. If wolves are living off of 7x7 elk, so be it. If they're living off of privately-ownedHerefords and Hamps on privately-owned range, not good.
Realistically though, with one side wanting wide-scale reintroduction, and the other wanting total elimination, I doubt our system of government will ever permit listing wolves as "varmints" - to be shot like coyotes. Much as I'd like mountain lions to be listed that way, I don't see that happening either. However, I do think more realistic hunting quotas must be established (ask folks who live in the Black Hills of SD about lions in their backyards - some like the "cute kitties", while others worry about their toddler becoming a meal for one). Viable and sustainablepopulation? Yes. Unlimited range? No (unless NYC's Central Park is included).
And a sidebar: Wolves have more impact than the enviros would like to think. Not long after the reintro to Yellowstone, I did a project survey that involved one of their biologists. I asked him about the impact to the park so far (myself thinking primarily about the enormous populations of bison and elk there, heretofore unchecked and tearing up the place). He told me the impact so far hadn't been on the elk and bison, but what he termed the secondary predators (coyotes, lions, fox, skunk, etc.). The wolves arrived and simply went about eliminating them. Competition. While living in Alaska, I was privileged to watch (from the road, no less) a pack of wolves in Denali Park split a sow grizzly and one cub from the other two cubs (I don't think triplets are common) and systematically keep the sow and one cub "busy" on one part of the hill while the remainder of the pack dined on the other two cubs lower on the hill. I was in a NPS bus along with a bunch of tourists, many who clamored for "someone kill those awful wolves". Nature at its wildest. Wolves are fascinating predators.