KEEPING THE WOLF AT BAY
As U.S.
Fish and Wildlife biologists ship more gray wolves into Yellowstone
National Park and central Idaho, the agency is considering how it
can get out of the wolf reintroduction business. An agency draft
proposal says the wolf could be considered recovered throughout the
West once 10 breeding pairs have been established for three years
in the three original recovery sites – Montana, central Idaho and
Wyoming. This would allow the agency to remove the wolf from the
endangered species list and end its obligation to reintroduce
wolves in other states. “(The agency) can’t just go on forever
protecting and adding wolves wherever anyone wants them. We have to
draw the line somewhere,” says Steve Fritts, wolf recovery
scientist in Helena, Mont. He says that many rural communities
don’t want to reintroduce wolves; instead, they want the power to
control wolves that migrate into their area. The proposed policy
alarms Michael Robinson, director of the nonprofit organization
Sinapu in Colorado. He wants the agency to restore wolves to
Colorado’s Western Slope and says the agency’s proposal would keep
wolves out of most of their former range. If wolves wander into
Colorado without federal protection, he says, an archaic Colorado
law would allow wolf killers to collect a $2
bounty.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has not yet
released its draft for public comment, but Sinapu has a copy. It
can be reached at P.O. Box 3243, Boulder, CO 80307
(303/447-8655).
*Jenny
Emery
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Keeping the wolf at bay.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
