Wolves now under state protection

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 11:55 a.m., March 28, 2008
Updated 11:55 a.m., March 28, 2008

Rocky Mountain gray wolves roaming Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are no longer an endangered species, as of today.

The wolves are thriving in the northern Rocky Mountains, and their delisting was announced last month. But today is the official day on which responsibility for their protection passes from the federal government to the states.

The delisting also includes the eastern third of Washington and Oregon, and a small corner of north-central Utah.

Colorado has virtually none of the gray wolves — a few footprints and carcasses are the only indicators any of the wolves have been here in recent years. So, nothing will change in Colorado.

If a few wolves work their way down from Wyoming, they'll have all the protections of the federal Endangered Species Act, US Fish & Wildlife Service officials say.

There are some 1,500 wolves and at least 100 breeding pairs in the three states. Those numbers exceed the recovery goals set by US Fish & Wildlife.

Each state has agreed to never let the population within its borders fall below 150 individuals or 15 breeding pairs.

The federal agency will monitor the states' plans for the next five years.

The wolf population in the upper Midwest was taken off the endangered species list last year. The wolves still have federal protected status in the southwestern United States.

A national policy to eradicate wolves had nearly succeeded by the 1930s, but then Americans started to re-evaluate the worth of the animals.

People tend to either love or hate wolves. Some say they were here first, and should be returned because they are a great natural way to manage elk and other wildlife.

Others say that if they return to Colorado they'll kill too many cows and wildlife.

The state plans include compensating ranchers for losing cattle to wolves, and allowing the shooting of wolves, under strict rules, if they become too populous.

Meanwhile, a wolf-advocacy group, WildEarth Guardians, has sued Rocky Mountain National Park over its decision to hire sharpshooters to kill up to 200 elk a year at the park to handle overpopulation rather than re-introducing wolves to do the job.

WildEarth Guardians spokesman Rob Edward said wolves can keep the elk herds moving, so they don't destroy entire swatches of willows and other vegetation. That vegetation loss is the main trouble that elks cause, he said.