“THE wolf must be taken in hand,” said a retired shoemaker to nods from farmers and officials gathered in a village hall. Francis Palombi, an aspiring parliamentarian, turned often to fears of the old predator while campaigning in Lozère, a densely forested department in southern France, early this summer.

Wolves were eradicated from France before the second world war, but have appeared in growing numbers since the early 1990s in the south and east, after a few sneaked in from Italy. Between 300 and 400 are thought to wander forests and mountainsides. For city folk, their return sounds charming. Mr Palombi twigs that those who care for grazing animals think otherwise.

Drive the winding roads that cross Lozère and complaints about wolves and other rural problems are legion. Phone connections are poor in the tiny, hillside communes. Youngsters leave for jobs elsewhere. “Lozère is one of the most forested departments in France; we should use the biomass,” says the politician. “We have enormous potential in our forests for energy. Why don’t we use them?” grumbles one voter.

Historically, the French did indeed make great use of woodland. Many large forests have enjoyed state protection, notably after an ordinance in 1669 created a forest code. After the revolution, hunting previously restricted to nobles was permitted for all. By the mid-to-late 20th century over 2m hunters spent winter weekends plodding after boars and birds. But fewer do so now, a consequence of rural depopulation and the lure of video games. The Fédération Nationale des Chasseurs, the national body, claims 1.1m still hold hunting licences; animal-rights activists say the real figure is lower.

Yet recent decades have brought about a striking trend. Forest cover grew rapidly in France in the quarter of a century to 2015, going up by an average of 102,000 hectares a year, as fields were given back to trees. Almost a third of France is now covered by woodland of some sort. Even so, the area damaged by forest fires has fallen by two-thirds since the 1980s. That does not stop the grumbles, however. Lozère’s farmers also dismiss statistics that indicate that only a few wolves prowl their forests. But its voters rejected Mr Palombi in the election. Perhaps they doubted he had what it takes to tackle the wolf.