I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of two articles in the Townsman on Friday, 20 January. One stated that Top Crop gave $519 to the Cranbrook Women's Resource Center and the other, that the Ministry of Environment will allocate $750,000 of our taxes to transport 40 mountain caribou from the Dease Lake herd to the Southern Purcell herd in an attempt to prevent our herd of 15 from disappearing. For an interesting perspective on moving caribou, readers might wish to check out a relevant provocative website at (www.mountaincaribou.ca/news/105).

But wait. Also required for this move will be the necessity of killing wolves to protect the enlarged local herd. This will apparently be done by helicopter hunters cued by transmitted signals from the caribou's collars when they are killed. It's marvelous how these transmitters will differentiate death by wolf from other causes. However, as you may recall, this hunting technique made Sarah Palin famous. I can imagine the mighty hunters salivating to get on board for this mandated and funded "sport."

There seems to be something wrong with this picture. I'm thinking, maybe move our herd to the northern healthy herd, where their habitat (old growth forests) has not yet been annihilated, as we have done here. That should not cost $19,000 per animal. Alternatively, funds for the Women's Center could be provided from a huge cost savings on the caribou project by translocating the nearby 15 animals into Cranbrook. They would certainly be safe here, as the "cullers" could tell them apart from the deer, plus the caribou would have a fear of dogs, having long been hunted by wolves, and there seem to be many folks here who would love to feed and protect them like the deer, and incorporate them into family experiences and ceremonies.

But what about the Women's Center? Would not our citizens and Environmental Ministry gain more by providing, say $100,000, for a safe habitat for battered and down-and-out women and children right here in town? The facility is in place, with competent staff and proven service. I would favor maintaining their habitat of a safe haven and moving the caribou to a better place. I sympathize with the wolves, as they are blameless in this bizarre scenario of trying to keep animals in a place where they are declining because of our encroachment on their habitat.