A booming wolf population around Yellowstone National
Park has local sportsmen up in arms. More than 2,500 people have
sent in a dollar to join the newly formed Friends of the Northern
Yellowstone Elk Herd, according to founder Robert Fanning. The
group wants to take wolves off the endangered species list and give
the state of Montana control over any that cross over the park’s
boundary.
“Our fathers and grandfathers got rid
of wolves for a reason,” fumes one letter writer. “The outfitting
business and hunters who put meat on the table are being
shortchanged.”
The number of elk in the park’s
northern herd has dropped dramatically, from around 17,000 during
the 1994-95 season to 11,700 last spring, according to park
biologist Wendy Clark. But she says hard winters and elk hunters,
not wolves, deserve much of the blame, and adds that fluctuations
are normal.
“There’s this sentiment bordering on
hysteria that suddenly predators are overrunning the landscape,”
says David Gaillard of the Bozeman-based Predator Conservation
Alliance.
Gaillard says hunters may just be
reacting to the return of predators, including lions. “But really
it just means we’re making progress in restoring balance to the
region.”
* Andrea Barnett
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Hunters cry: too many predators.
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