Once upon a time the gray wolf (Canis lupus) was at the top of the North American food chain. In 1974 it was placed on the Endangered Species List, having been almost entirely exterminated in the Lower 48, except for a small population clinging precariously to life in the northern region of Minnesota. Ambitious projects carried out by the federal Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) eventually succeeded in establishing wolf populations in small segments of their natural range, specifically in Montana, Idaho, the Yellowstone area of Wyoming and (with less success) reintroducing the Mexican Wolf to the Gila Mountains of the American Southwest. Many of the residents of these areas strenuously objected to the reintroduction but the Wildlife Service was determined, and aided by conservation groups like the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society, as well as wolf-specific groups, which mobilized international support for the project, and pressured state and federal lawmakers when it was necessary to do so. The result was that in 2012 gray wolves were taken off the Endangered Species list, having sufficiently recovered -- or so said the Wildlife Service -- to warrant handing the stewardship of the wolf populations over to the respective states.
And now the slaughter of wolves has begun again. I have to admit that to chronicle the resumption of the Wolf Wars is not a pleasant task for me. I have been involved in wolf recovery for two decades. Back in the 90's, as reintroduction proceeded, I was concerned that this very thing would happen, that the wolves would secure a pawhold in the upper Rocky Mountain states and then be abandoned by the federal government. I did not think the ranchers and others who depended on the land for their livelihood would ever reconcile themselves to the presence of wolves. I believed that as wolf numbers increased so would wolf predation on livestock and pets. And now, the wolves in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana are left to the mercy of those who feel threatened by their presence. Back then I maintained a site which kept visitors updated on what I called the Wolf Wars of the late '90s and the first few years of the century. And here we go again. The FWS tried to delist the Idaho, Montana and Wyoming populations in 2003, 2008 and 2009 but were stymied by the legal challenges of wildlife defense organizations. Finally, in 2011, Congress stepped in and delisted wolves in Montana and Idaho -- and exempted that law from legal challenge. By this time the wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountains was estimated at 1,774 in 287 packs. Since numbers exceeded the minimum recovery level established by the FWS, the states immediately instituted public wolf harvesting. Neither Idaho, Montana or Wyoming reached their initial harvest quotas. This assumes, of course, that wolf killers will report their kills. For example, Montana hoped to harvest 220 wolves in the 2010-11 season, but only 166 were taken. During this period the wolf population expanded 15%. As was the case in the 1990s, the hot spot was Wyoming, of which about 80% is grazed by livestock. The state had long insisted that unrestricted taking of wolves in this area, known as the Predator Zone, and the FWS repeatedly rejected the Wyoming wolf management plan until 2012; the approved plan still contained a provision for the year-round taking of wolves in the Predator Zone. Relatively few wolves inhabit this area -- between 2003-2012 the FWS authorized the killing of 70 wolves there -- and residents are justified in having the expectation that they can protect their pets and livestocks from predation. But reason and compromise are chronically in short supply in the Wolf Wars. And it doesn't help that wolves in the protected area in and around Yellowstone have been dying too; eight wearing tracking collars and that were part of ongoing research studies have also been slain. In the most recent hunting season (2011-2012), 550 wolves were killed in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Add in those taken by federal FWS agents (4,000 of them since reintroduction), poachers, road-related deaths, and disease, and some conservationists believe wolves were delisted too soon, and that they cannot survive state management. So, let's do the math. The wolf population of 1775 is reduced by 550, or 31%. The surviving population of, let's say 1250 is not going to increase by nearly 50% in a year. Clearly, the goal is to reduce wolf numbers to the bare minimum acceptable level as determined by the FWS. The Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan states that wolves would be considered "viable" -- or recovered -- once 10 breeding pairs survived in each of three designated recovery areas for three successive years. According to the FWS, the wolves reached this recovery goal with at least 663 individuals in 2003. In a few more hunting seasons the wolf population should be diminished to close to the minimum recovery level. And then what? Does anyone believe that wolf hunting will be curtailed? Or, that even if it is, that wolf killing will stop? The fact is, the minimum recovery level will not suffice to prevent the wolf from returning to endangered status. And so we can more reasonably expect the actions of the states will result in the FWS having to step back into the fray. The same FWS that earned a lot of good will among conservationists and animal lovers for it's high profile wolf reintroduction, but couldn't wait to abandon the wolves to the mercy of the states. In the meantime, thousands of wolves, like the four pictured above, have been doomed to death. There is better news in the Great Lakes region. As of 2012 the wolf populations there were 2,921 in Minnesota, 782 in Wisconsin, and 687 in Michigan's Upper Penninsula. This is twice the minimum recovery level for Minnesota, and twelve times that level in Wisconsin and Michigan. In 2012, Minnesota issued 3,600 wolf permits, with a quota of 200, and 167 wolves were taken. A second special season, with 2,400 permits issued, saw the quota of 253 reached. That's about 400 wolves killed, or approximately 13% of the population -- a percentage that the wolf population in Minnesota should be able to sustain. |
WOLVES IN DANGER -- AGAIN
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