Wolves’ Return a Howling Success, but Foes Just Howl

It was a frigid January day when the doors to the small crates finally opened and the first gray wolf bolted into the wilds of Idaho. The event was cheered by environmentalists, who had wondered if they would ever see wolves reintroduced in the Northern Rockies, and decried by ranchers and others who had hoped to keep it from happening.

Ten years after gray wolves were reintroduced, passions still run deep. The wolves’ incredible recovery and expansion in the states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming have ensured that.

Ranchers worry about livestock being attacked. Outfitters, such as Edwin Johnson in Gardiner, worry the wolves are decimating elk herds and threatening their livelihood. “You haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet because wolves are going to be all over the place,” he said.

Conservationists acknowledge some problems but say wolves haven’t been the scourge some predicted they would be, or claim that they are. In fact, they say, wolves have had positive effects on both the ecology of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and economies of communities around Yellowstone National Park, where wolves also were reintroduced beginning in 1995. The park has become a wolf-watching hotspot.

Some conservationists say the true measure of success will come when the wolves are taken off the endangered species list, a move that, despite the wolves’ having already achieved recovery goals, could be years away because of litigation.

“The book needs to be closed in order for us to say that the Endangered Species Act is doing its job and that wolf restoration is a complete success,” said Jon Schwedler, spokesman for the Predator Conservation Alliance in Bozeman.

The story spans decades, with wolves in the region gaining protection under the act in 1974. They were essentially gone from Idaho, Wyoming and Montana until the 1980s, when a small number migrated into Glacier National Park from Canada.

In 1987, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed reintroduction of an experimental population in Yellowstone. After several years of study, public comment and controversy, officials decided in the early 1990s to reintroduce wolves to the park and parts of central Idaho.

Ranchers were among those against it, worried about how the wolves would affect their livelihood. State Farm Bureau groups and others sued to stop release of the wolves from Canada.

“You have wolf advocates from New York to L.A. They love these animals and have no sense of what they’re capable of,” said Jake Cummins, Montana Farm Bureau Federation executive vice president. “When they’re killing a calf, they’re not as warm and fuzzy as they’re portrayed.”

When the release finally came, some wolf advocates present, including Suzanne Stone, were worried about the wolves’ well-being and their own.

“There was a lot of hostility toward the people bringing them in, and the wolves themselves,” said Stone, who is now Rocky Mountain field representative with the Defenders of Wildlife.

Jan. 14, 1995, was frigid; the roads were ice-covered and slick. The first wolf released bolted from the crate. But others -- Stone remembers four let go the first day -- were more tentative.

The wolves bound for Yellowstone stayed in “acclimation pens” for two months before their release in March 1995. The idea was to allow family units to bond and the wolves to get used to their new surroundings.

The next year, 37 wolves were reintroduced in the two areas. Federal wildlife officials had expected to reintroduce animals for five years but stopped after two because the population was growing on its own.

The controversy grew with it. In 1997, a federal judge in Wyoming ordered the gray wolves removed, saying the reintroduction was illegal. An appeals court reversed him.

Coexistence between ranchers and wolves has been uneasy. Conservation groups, like the Defenders of Wildlife, provide compensation for confirmed livestock losses and offer assistance with nonlethal measures to keep wolves away from livestock. But farm group leaders say that it’s difficult to prove losses and that little short of a shotgun will keep wolves from coming back.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, 278 cattle and nearly 800 sheep were confirmed killed by wolves in the three states from 1995 to 2003. During that time, 201 problem wolves were also killed, most by government agents, the agency said.

“The only thing that works with animals this smart is knowing that they can be killed,” said Cummins, of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation. “Until you start using lethal methods, they pretty much adjust.”

Gray wolves reached their recovery goals in 2002. But before the wildlife service can propose that wolves in the Northern Rockies be delisted, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming need to have approved management plans.

The agency approved plans by Montana and Idaho last year, but rejected Wyoming’s, which called for a dual classification of wolves. In areas where wolves would be classified as predators, they could be shot with little restriction. The state is suing.

What happens between now and delisting could be telling. The wildlife agency said this month that it would hand over to Montana and Idaho as much interim management authority for wolves as they want

The states’ performances “will be a guide in whether they can be trusted once wolves are delisted,” said Ed Bangs, the agency’s wolf recovery coordinator in Helena, Mont.

One of the big challenges will be moving away from a mindset of recovery to a focus on management and conservation, said Carolyn Sime, gray wolf program coordinator with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. But she said the state is ready to take on a greater role.

“We can do an excellent job managing wolves if given the chance,” said Steve Nadeau, large carnivore program coordinator with Idaho’s Department of Fish and Game.

Looking back on the wolf program, those on all sides of the debate have a wide range of still-strong emotions.

Maury Jones, an outfitter in western Wyoming, said he wishes that the reintroduction had never happened, and swears that it will be the “greatest wildlife disaster ever seen.”

Jim Magagna, Wyoming Stock Growers Assn. executive vice president, said he still wonders if he could have done more to stop reintroduction. The costs, he figures, probably would have paled next to headaches ranchers are experiencing now.

Doug Smith, Yellowstone wolf project leader, said the wolf reintroduction has been the opportunity of a lifetime and a scientist’s dream, providing a chance to compare an ecosystem with and without a key predator.

“It’s one of the major conservation efforts of the 20th century, and to be there and watch the population grow and study it -- it’s one of the most exciting things that’s happened to me.”