Susan Knopf / Summit Daily News
The Sierra Club and Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund are running a marathon. They’re trying to get enough signatures to put a wolf initiative on the ballot in 2020. According to Colorado Sierra Club, they collected 85% of
the signatures needed for the Dec. 3 deadline.
To help residents learn more about this initiative and the
successful reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park, a screening
of the film “Epic Yellowstone: Return of the Predators” is at 6:30
p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge. Colorado
Sierra Club Wildlife Chair Dee Malone will answer your questions. Rocky
Mountain Wolf Project also will screen two short films. It’s free. Donations
are gladly accepted and recommended.
Colorado
Stop Wolf Coalition is working against the wolf initiative. The group believes reintroduction of wolves in
Colorado will hurt livestock and spread disease.
For the record, the research supports wolf reintroduction in
Colorado. The facts don’t support the opinions of the ranchers. It would appear
old legends of the “big, bad wolf” are indeed responsible for creating
fantasy fears.
One columnist asserted the Sierra Club was presuming to be more knowledgeable than state
wildlife biologists, forcing the issue of wolf reintroduction, against the
better judgment of the experts.
The fact that Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife isn’t
looking for a fight on this one doesn’t surprise me. It’s no proof, the state
wildlife experts don’t favor wolf reintroduction. (I haven’t found a single
professional wildlife manger to go on the record against wolf reintroduction.) It’s
also no proof that wolf reintroduction wouldn’t be good for Colorado wildlife
overall in creating greater biodiversity.
One of the big arguments for wolves is they keep ungulates, or
hooved animals, on the move, which means they don’t overgraze stream banks.
Many native plants, flowers and smaller animal habitats have been lost to ungulate
overgrazing. In Yellowstone National Park, rangers have been pleased with an increase
in biodiversity accompanied by wolf introduction.
Mike Phillips, director of the Turner Endangered Species
Fund, has been involved with the Yellowstone wolf reintroduction program since
the 1990s. He says, “If Coloradans are willing to embrace an honest portrayal
of the gray wolf, as defined by decades of reliable research, they will
conclude that co-existing with the species is a straightforward affair that
requires only a modicum of accommodation. Such a conclusion advances
restoration.”
Bad weather causes far more cattle and sheep losses than
wolves. The Humane
Society confirms less than 1% of deaths are verified wolf kills. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture has released false data based on unconfirmed cases
that were extrapolated to reflect a wider area. Not real data. “The Humane Society of the
United States analyzed the USDA’s embellished predation numbers. Their data
show that farmers and ranchers lose nine times more cattle and sheep to health,
weather, birthing and theft problems than to all predators combined. In the
USDA reports, ‘predators’ include mammalian carnivores (e.g., cougars, wolves
and bears), avian carnivores (e.g., eagles and hawks) and domestic dogs.
Domestic dogs, according to the USDA’s data, kill 100 percent more cattle than
wolves and 1,924 percent more sheep.”
As
for claims of spreading disease, the pro-wolf contingent says wolves help
control wasting disease because wolves prey upon weaker animals. As for
hunters’ claims that wolves will reduce elk population and thus hurt the
Colorado economy:
Delia Malone, wildlife chair for Colorado Sierra Club shared elk population
reports from Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. In all three states, elk populations
have grown since the introduction of wolves, and the harvest (elk killed by
hunters) also grew from 1995 to 2017 in all three states.
Due
to a variety of factors, the wolf population in Yellowstone declined in recent years after
peaking in 2003, 2004 and 2007. This data refutes assertions the wolves will
take over and decimate the wildlife of the Rockies.
Malone says, “If we put initiative 107 on the ballot and
then elect the gray wolf, we can begin a restorative relationship with nature.
Restoring gray wolves to the wild lands of Colorado’s west slope will bring a
much needed breath of fresh air to our natural ecosystems — initiating a
restoration of biological diversity and ecosystem health that brings resiliency
to our landscapes.”
Research consistently shows the reintroduction of wolves will be a good thing for hunters, it will negligibly affect ranchers, and wolves rarely attack humans. I vote for the wolves.
Susan Knopf’s column “For The Record” publishes Fridays in the Summit Daily News. Knopf has worn many hats in her career, including working as an award-winning journalist and certified ski instructor. She moved to Silverthorne in 2013 after vacationing in Summit County since the 1970s. Contact her at sdnknopf@gmail.com.