Wolves in Yellowstone

Katherine Dowling, in her column about the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park (“Defying the Laws of Nature,” Commentary, Jan. 18), said it well: “Man depends on animals and plants. Each species has a special place on our planet, and sometimes we do not realize just how important it is until we have ravaged it beyond replacement.” But the rest of her argument decrying the reintroduction as “environmental elitism” requires a rebuttal.

Through reintroduction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has found a process that will work to recover an endangered species at a lower cost and in a shorter time than natural recovery--with the added benefit of a flexible management program, which, among other things, will allow ranchers to defend their livestock from an attacking animal. Wolves can and do kill livestock, but there is no record of a person being attacked by a healthy wolf in the wild in North America. There is a far greater chance of being attacked by some breeds of pet dogs than by a wolf.

Minnesota, where some 2,000 wolves roam in the wild, also has more than 248,000 cattle and sheep living on 7,200 farms; in 1994, 74 ranchers lost a combined 85 head to wolves. Anticipated livestock losses in the Yellowstone and central Idaho areas average roughly 60 head per year--significantly lower than those already registered by coyotes or even natural causes.

As to possible impacts on tourism, research indicates that the presence of wolves will increase visitation in Yellowstone by 5% among non-residents, and 10% among people who already live nearby, resulting in an estimated $23 million more a year in tourist revenue.

Lastly, the wolves awaiting release in Yellowstone are living in one-acre enclosures. Contrary to Dowling’s astonishing claim, no one expects that half of them will die prior to release.

MOLLIE BEATTIE

Director, Fish and Wildlife Service

Department of Interior, Washington

Your coverage of the program to reintroduce wolves into Yellowstone National Park and the Rocky Mountain states was the highlight of the new year for me. How sad that one of these remarkable creatures has already been shot to death in Idaho (Jan. 31).

We would all be wise to recall the admonition of Chief Seattle, who said that if man were to kill all the animals, he would die of spiritual loneliness. The reintroduction of these wolves should serve to remind us of who we truly are; hopefully this program will succeed in restoring the ecological balance of these regions and in returning us all to our spiritual home.

AUSTIN GALLAHER

Pacific Beach