Eyes of the nation will be on Idaho, Montana wolf managers
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A major new chapter is beginning in the Northern Rockies wolf saga.By summer, the gray wolf will again be taken off the Endangered Species list in Montana and Idaho, the result of Congress attaching a rider to budget legislation directing the Secretary of Interior to remove protections in these two states and parts of Utah, Oregon and Washington.
Since wolves were restored to Greater Yellowstone and central Idaho's wilds 16 years ago, Montana and Idaho have insisted they can manage them. Now both will have the opportunity to show the nation they can ensure healthy, enduring populations for the long term. Wyoming, where wolves remain protected under the ESA, will not be allowed to follow the examples of Montana and Idaho until it produces a viable management plan.
GYC will closely monitor state management. We will work with agencies and local stakeholders to make sure wolves are managed like other wildlife. This includes fair-chase, regulated hunting as an important management tool. Likely starting this fall, hunters will be able to legally harvest wolves in the two states. If fair-chase hunting is conducted with a full component of sound science and public involvement, we believe wolves will continue to fill their ecological niche on the landscape in both states.
What has often been lost in the heated controversy over state vs. federal management is the fact that wolf recovery in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies is an incredible success story - perhaps the most successful restoration of a species in America's 100-year effort to improve wildlife management.
Twenty years ago, no wolves existed in Greater Yellowstone. Today, almost 1,700 roam the Northern Rockies - 500 in Greater Yellowstone alone - and ecological balance is being restored to our wildest landscapes through the presence of wolves and their interactions with other animals.
Along the way, some communities near Yellowstone National Park have learned how to economically benefit. Studies show wolf-watchers add $35.5 million annually to their coffers from increased tourism.
At the same time, wolves have had a negative impact on some ranching and farming families due to predation of livestock and pets. In some valleys, wolves also have contributed to changes in distribution and populations of elk and deer. This, in turn, has angered hunters who treasure the presence of large herds for sport and food.
Addressing these conflicts - which are real and important - will require the entire wildlife-management toolbox, from research on populations, to monitoring for the presence of wolves, to reducing livestock conflicts using non-lethal techniques, to fair-chase hunting, and to lethal control by wildlife managers responding to cattle and sheep predation. We believe wolves will be resilient and adaptable, even in the face of intervention by agencies to reduce numbers through hunting or lethal-control methods.
We've encouraged managing for 1,200-1,500 wolves across the Northern Rockies, and with delisting the three states are committed to 1,100. We intend to hold them to that.
If the total population does drop drastically below these levels, the ESA will almost certainly be used to return numbers to a sustainable population. And most residents - GYC and its members included - don't want to see that happen again.
GYC has for years strived to find the middle ground on wolf management, to move beyond ongoing conflicts by using science-based management to monitor the impacts of wolves and to ensure public understanding of the vital role these animals have upon the regional landscape.
We are committed to working with state agencies, ranchers and the sporting community in the region to limit conflicts and ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to hear the magic of a wolf howl across the landscape.
Jeff Welsch is communications director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition in Bozeman.
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