Gray Wolf, No Longer a Villian, May Be Reintroduced in 3 Areas

Sen. James A. McClure (R-Ida.) introduced a bill Tuesday to allow gray wolves to be placed in Yellowstone National Park, where they were virtually eradicated 60 years ago under a federal predator-control program.

The legislation also would permit the return of the gray wolf to a wilderness area in central Idaho and would foster natural recovery of the species in Glacier National Park in Montana.

Protection of the gray wolf as an endangered species would be lifted everywhere except in the three recovery zones, so state game officials and ranchers could legally kill wolves outside those areas.

McClure’s bill was presented as the National Park Service released a report concluding that the gray wolf could again live in Yellowstone without posing a threat to humans or depleting elk, bison, bighorn sheep and other large prey.

The two-year study, ordered by Congress, found there have been only “occasional depredations” on livestock outside the park. The report suggested that wolves could be controlled to prevent severe losses of domestic animals.

The report also said that the return of the wolf would have little effect on big-game hunting near Yellowstone.

In recent years, scientists have come to recognize the wolf’s importance to the natural food chain. Except in Minnesota, the grey wolf is an endangered species throughout the Lower 48 states.

McClure’s bill calls for the immediate introduction of three breeding pairs to both Yellowstone and a 2-million-acre area of wilderness and national forest land in the central Idaho Rockies.

A third zone, comprised of Montana’s Glacier National Park and adjoining wilderness, would be managed to foster the natural recovery of existing wolf packs that have moved into the area from Canada.