[Vision2020] NY Times OP/ED: Mixed News for Wolves

[Friends of the Clearwater]

>  Wayne,

Wolves play a very important role in the ecosystems they inhabit.  In 
fact they can reinvigorate an unhealthy elk or deer herd because they 
tend to predate on old cows (average age in several studies including 
Idaho and Yellowstone show that they favor 12-13 year old cows, 
thereby encouraging young cows to be more productive). For more 
ecological benefits afforded us by wolves read on and please attend 
the Tuesday, Feb 20, 7pm talk by Dr. Jim Peek at the UI Law School 
Courtroom. He has studied the ungulate populations of the Frank 
Church and vicinity for decades.

Will Boyd
Friends of the Clearwater

>Wolves play a key role in their ecosystem by culling weak and old 
>elk and deer (Smith, Peterson and Houston 2003) and reducing the 
>long-term concentration of elk herds on sensitive meadows and 
>wetlands (Ripple and Beshta 2004). In what is known as the cascade 
>effect, the presence of wolves affects a multitude of species within 
>the ecosystem. Elk, wary of the new top predator, have altered their 
>grazing behaviour. With less grazing pressure from elk, streambed 
>vegetation such as willow and aspen are regenerating after decades 
>of over-browsing. As the trees are restored, they create better 
>habitat for native birds and fish, beaver and other species. In 
>addition, wolves have reduced the Park's coyote population by as 
>much as 50 percent in some areas, which led to increased populations 
>of pronghorn antelope and red fox (Crabtree and Sheldon 1999). In 
>short, wolves play an important role in nature and their presence 
>enhances native biodiversity and healthy ecosystems.  Source: Smith, 
>D.W., R.O. Petersen, and D.B. Houston. 2003. Yellowstone after 
>Wolves. Bioscience 53 (4): 330 - 340. Ripple, W.J., and R.L. 
>Beschta. 2004. Wolves, elk, willows, and trophic cascades in the 
>upper Gallatin range of southwestern Montana, USA. Forest Ecology 
>and Management 200: 161-181. Crabtree R.L., and J.W. Sheldon. 1999. 
>Coyotes and canid coexistence. Pp 127-163 in Clark TW, Curlee AP, 
>Minta SC, Kareiva PM, eds. Carnivores in Ecosystems: The Yellowstone 
>Experience. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press.  


------------------

>  In an editorial posted by Wayne from the NYT:
>
>"This eagerness to resume the slaughter is based on claims that the
>wolves are devastating livestock populations and game animals like elk.
>These claims have little basis in fact and should be rigorously examined
>during the public comment period ahead. Even then, the wolves should not
>be de-listed until Idaho and Wyoming adopt adequate regulatory
>mechanisms for protecting wolf populations that present no threat to
>humans, are valuable to the ecosystem and have taken years to rebuild."
>
>Honestly, I don't care one way or the other about the wolves (there is
>only so much food to go around, and I can protect myself in the woods),
>but the writer states that there is "little basis in fact" regarding the
>claims that wolves are devastating livestock and wild game populations,
>yet only a couple sentences later states that "[wolves] are valuable to
>the ecosystem".
>
>Seems to me the ecosystem has been getting along without the wolves
>while they were endangered in some areas and absent in others, so that
>claim of "value to the ecosystem" would also have little basis in fact.
>
>I guess that's why it's an editorial.
>
>DC
>
>
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