Chip Ward, who used to write for High Country News, has just published an informative piece on wolf recovery in Yellowstone — essentially calling it a success story that nobody appears to want to take credit for.
One interesting angle: Wolves improve the water supply. How? When there are no wolves to worry about, elk hang out on river bottoms and stream banks “where the grass is green and the livin’ easy.”
Western gray wolf photo courtesy Flickr user SigmaEye.
They chew away at willow and aspen, depriving beaver of food and shelter materials. Thus fewer beaver dams to slow and distribute the water, as well loss of habitat for bugs and amphibians.
There’s a lot more to it, of course, and it’s well worth a slow read.
Ed Quillen is a freelance writer in Salida, Colorado.
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