Biodiversity: Study sheds new light on wolf predation

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Hunting wolves may have less of an impact on elk herds than previously believed. Photo via USFWS.

Three-year tracking project helps show that wolves alone aren’t necessarily responsible for declining elk populations

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — For quite some time, conventional wisdom has held that the presence of wolves in the Greater Yellowstone area has had beneficial impacts on the overall ecosystem by keeping elk on the move.

But a new study, led by recent University of Wyoming Ph.D. graduate Arthur Middleton, casts some doubt on that theory. For three years, the researchers closely followed the  Clarks Fork elk herd west of Cody, along with the wolf packs that prey on it. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Wolves get short end of the stick — again

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Caving to political pressure from western states, the Obama administration wants to remove endangered species protections for the ecologically vital predators

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A gray wolf follows a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. Photo courtesy NPS/Doug Smith.

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — In a move that’s sure to spur another round of contentious lawsuits, the Obama administration is moving ahead with its controversial plan to take nearly all wolves across the U.S. off the endangered species list.

Federal biologists say wolves are recovered and no longer need endangered species protection, but conservation groups immediately blasted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, saying that the agency based its conclusions on faulty science.

“This is like kicking a patient out of the hospital when they’re still attached to life-support,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity.  “Wolves cling to a sliver of their historic habitat in the lower 48 and now the Obama administration wants to arbitrarily declare victory and move on. They need to finish the job that Americans expect, not walk away the first chance they get. This proposal is a  national disgrace and our wildlife deserve better,” Greenwald said. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Scientists slam feds on possible wolf de-listing

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Wolves are recovered in Yellowstone, but a possible plan to take them off the Endangered Species List is highly controversial. Photo courtesy Yellowstone NP.

Leaked plan doesn’t live up to intent of Endangered Species Act

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A group of prominent scientists with expertise in wolf biology is taking issue with a draft plan to take wolves off the Endangered Species List. The document was leaked a few weeks ago, eliciting widespread criticism from wildlife advocates.

Federal wildlife agencies are under intense pressure from states to turn over wolf management. Congress has already set the stage for political interference in the wolf recovery process, and that step has put the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service at the edge of a very slippery slope. Any proposal to de-list wolves is likely to face significant opposition and legal challenges from conservation advocates. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Wildlife advocates howling mad about draft federal plan to take wolves off the Endangered Species List

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Wolves may not be in danger of extinction, but are they recovered?

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The current legal status of wolves in the U.S.

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A gray wolf follows a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. Photo courtesy NPS/Doug Smith.

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO —An oft-discussed proposal to remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List has progressed to the point that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has developed a fairly detailed draft version of the plan. The draft rule proposes removing all protections for wolves in 29 eastern states but maintaining endangered status for the Mexican wolf by listing it as a subspecies.

“We propose these actions because the best available scientific and commercial information indicates that the currently listed entity is not a valid species under the Act and that the Mexican wolf (C. l. baileyi) is an endangered subspecies,” the agency wrote in the draft. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Congress steps into wolf conservation fray

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Letter asks U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to keep protection in place

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A congressional faction is pushing back against wolf de-listing. Photo courtesy USFWS.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Two leading congressional Democrats are leading an effort to maintain protection for wolves across the United States.

Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), along with 52 House members this week sent a letter to the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service urging an about-face on the agency’s anticipated proposal to remove federal protections for wolves across most of the lower 48 United States.

Wolf populations have recovered in places like the northern Rockies, but those areas only cover about 5 percent of the species’ original range. Before they were exterminated by humans, an estimated 2 million wolves roamed across most of the U.S. (more…)

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Wildlife: Wolves under siege in the northern Rockies

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Lawsuit filed to prevent wolf slaughter in Wyoming

Gray wolf. Photo courtesy USFWS.

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Federal wolf management in the northern Rockies will once again be tested in court, as conservation groups this week filed a lawsuit claiming that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by handing management of the species to the state.

The state’s wolf management policy allows almost unlimited wolf killing much of the state in a designated predator zone and doesn’t adequately protect wolves even where killing is regulated. The lawsuit alleges Wyoming’s policy will result in wolf deaths that undermine the recovery of the species. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. (more…)

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Habitat the key factor for Iberian wolf populations

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Iberian wolves live …Photo courtesy  Raúl A. Netícola.

Study finds wolves in populated areas driven more by landscape factors than by food availability

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The social war over wolves isn’t unique to the U.S.

In Europe, Iberian wolves are also expanding their range, increasingly into areas where humans live, and their presence is not always welcome, according to Spanish researchers studying habitat requirements for the predator in Spain and Portugal.

What they’ve found in recent years is that the spread of wolves into populated areas is linked primarily to habitat requirements rather than the availability of food.

The habitat of the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) varies greatly across the Iberian Peninsula and its diet revolves around what is available, ranging from wild animals to domestic waste.

“Although the wolf boasts highly adaptable strategies for survival, landscape is the factor we have analyzed that best explains their distribution across Galicia,”said Luis Llaneza, researcher at Asesores en Recursos Naturales (A.RE.NA.) and lead author of the study published in the Diversity and Distributions journal.

His research has allowed for the analysis of the relative influence of landscape attributes, human presence and food resources and the existence of wolves over an area of 30,000 square kilometers in northwestern part of the Iberian peninsula.

The scientists concentrated on indirect signs of the animal to identify their distribution in Galicia, especially scat. In total, they analyzed 1,594 excrement samples,which were  verified using DNA molecular analysis to show how they are using available habitat.

The results suggest landscape properties are decisive in terms of animal safety at a level of 48 percent, whereas the presence of humans (buildings and roads) is influential at a level of 35 percent and food availability at 17 percent.

“As long as tolerated by humans, the wolf can be found in any place where there is refuge and food,” Llaneza said. According to the habitat models, the wolf presence would increase with more semi-wild horses and wild ungulates like deer.

“The amount of semi-wild horses in Galicia could be a key factor determining the presence of wolves in areas where wild prey or other food sources area not so abundant,” the study found.

Safe refuge?

After studying the effect of altitude, topogrpahy and refuge availability, researchers demonstrated that the mammals require habitat with a diverse plant community, including brush and grass at least 18 inches high, which enable the wolves to hide.

“These animals remain in Spain and little by little we are beginning to understand how they survive in human-dominated areas,” said Llaneza. The study show wolves choose high places that are difficult to access.

“The density of vegetation allows wolves to go unnoticed by humans”, he said, adding  that humans are responsible for 91 percent of wolf deaths in the region, with 65 percent of the deaths resulting from collisions with vehicles, 20 percent from poaching and 6 percent from legal hunting.

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Op-ed: Idaho wolf torture highlights brutality of state ‘management’ plans in absence of federal oversight

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Photo from trapperman.com posting.

Conservation groups say Idaho trapping violates state laws

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — A rhetorical, and ideological war over wolves in the northern Rockies intensified last week with the internet posting of photos suggesting that a trapped wolf was tortured before being killed, with the involvement of U.S. Forest Service personnel.

Following the official de-listing of wolves as an endangered species, hundreds of the predators have been slaughtered in the northern Rockies under state wolf management plans aimed at reducing populations to a bare minimum.

Wildlife advocates are not exactly pleased with the direction of those state plans, and the recent flare-up over the wolf trapped in Idaho seems to reinforce their arguments that the quest to kill wolves is based on a pathological fear and hatred of the predators. (more…)

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Colorado: Wolf pack moves into Summit County

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

The leader of the new Summit County wolf pack, dubbed "John Denver" by federal biologists. PHOTO COURTESY USFWS.

County will have to cut human population by about 30 percent to provide adequate wolf habitat

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY —The howl of coyotes is familiar to high country residents, who have long lived with the spine-tingling sound.

But lately, a new and improved howl has been heard, as a small wolf pack has detoured from Wyoming into Colorado to set up a home range in the White River National Forest.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists formally made the announcement April 1, declaring that most public lands in Summit County are now considered critical habitat for wolves and putting and end to pesky recreational uses like skiing, hiking and mountain biking. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Yukon wolf herd thriving

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Study shows wolf numbers don’t have a big effect on caribou herd

A collared wolf in the Yukon. PHOTO COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A long-term study of wolves and caribou in the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, a few hundred miles east of Fairbanks, suggests that a thriving wolf population in the area doesn’t have a significant impact on the caribou herd in the preserve.

Wolf abundance and distribution has been monitored in the 2.5 million acre national preserve since 1993 using radio collars on animals within most of the packs using the area. No wolf study in Alaska, other than one at Denali National Park, has been in place for more years. The latest data from study shows a healthy and rebounding wolf population.

“Wolves depend on healthy populations of large ungulates, like caribou, which in turn respond to vegetation, weather and other habitat patterns across the landscape,” said Tom Liebscher, chief of resources for Yukon-Charley Rivers. ‘These data give us insight into what’s happening across a large range of resources, as well as help other agencies make informed management choices.” (more…)

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