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Ecology

Yellowstone Wolves

Gray Wolf Reintroduction

in Colorado

by Alison Barbee

  • As seen in Yellowstone, complex food web dynamics:
  • wolf packs have a strong influence over predator hunting behaviors:
  • grizzly bears (Ursus arctos)
  • cougars (Puma concolor)
  • dominant prey species may change based on availability and wolf pack preferences:
  • Bison (Bison bison)
  • Moose (Alces alces)
  • Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
  • Elk (Cervus elaphus)
  • Recovery of willow, cottonwood, and aspen trees all seen in Yellowstone NP
  • Predator prey interactions are being modeled to understand the effects on ungulate herd dynamics and the possible environmental changes in Colorado
  • Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995

  • Some of the beneficial impacts to biological interactions include:
  • increasing influence of bears on the survival of elk calves
  • the relationships between wolves and hunters
  • Recovery of willow, cottonwood, and aspen trees
  • Bison have replaced elk as the dominant herbivore on Yellowstone's Northern Range

  • The ecosystem responses to wolf recovery in Yellowstone reinforce the value of national parks and other protected areas as ecological baseline reserves. (Mark Boyce)

The First Time in 80 Years....

  • In October of 2020, Karin Vardaman and her team of conservationalists from the Working Circle nonprofit, were in Moffat County, CO looking to document any active wolf packs
  • By winter, they documented one of the first packs of wolves in the state in more than 80 years
  • After a few months, the pack crossed back into Wyoming and three of them had been shot and killed
  • Hope for this pinoneer pack of wolves to stay in Colorado was dwindling.
  • One late winter evening at their basecamp Vardaman and her team heard three distinctive sorrowful howls, that grew into a chorus of hope
  • Then in June of 2021, CPW staff observed three wolf pups with a pair of adult wolves known as M2101 and M1084 (F1084)
  • Colorado is now home to at least three gray wolf pups, which is the first litter to be born in the state in about 80 years

Resources:

1. https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/CON-Wolf-Management.aspx

2. https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/Wolves-in-Colorado-FAQ.aspx

3. https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wolves-colorado

4. https://www.nathab.com/blog/economic-benefits-of-wolves-in-yellowstone/

5. https://www.fws.gov/home/wolfrecovery/

6. https://denver-cbslocal-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/

7. https://www.hcn.org/issues/53.9/south-wolves-perilous-path-to-colorado-wolf-restoration

8. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/gray-wolf-pups-seen-colorado-first-time-80-years-180978010/

9. Mark S Boyce, Wolves for Yellowstone: dynamics in time and space, Journal of Mammalogy, Volume 99, Issue 5, 10 October 2018, Pages 1021–1031, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyy115

10. Carlos Carroll, Daniel J Rohlf, Bridgett M vonHoldt, Adrian Treves, Sarah A Hendricks, Wolf Delisting Challenges Demonstrate Need for an Improved Framework for Conserving Intraspecific Variation under the Endangered Species Act., BioScience, Volume 71, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 73–84, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa125

11. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-nature-wolves-yellowstone-national.html

12. Whitley, Clint. The Western Hunting Hub, Episode 87 – Colorado Wolves Update Part 2. Paul Navarre. June 28th, 2021.

13. Ward, Alie. Lupinology (Wolves) with Dr. Bridgett vonHoldt. November 19, 2019.

Wolves

Tourist Industry/

Economy

  • Gray wolves historically inhabited most of Colorado, but were nearly eradicated

  • The last known resident wolves in Colorado were documented in the 1940s

  • In the 1980s, the National Park Service (NPS) began the process to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone NP

  • In the past 2 decades, most wolves seen in Colorado are believed to have originated from the Greater Yellowstone Area

  • As of Nov. 3rd, 2020, Colorado plans to reintroduce gray wolves onto the Western Slope by 2024

Politics around Wolves

  • Negative Impacts on Hunting Revenue
  • Hunting seasons were implemented in Wyoming to mitigate negative impacts of wolves on ranchers/ hunters
  • Currently illegal in the state of Colorado
  • In 2019, an Environmental Impact Statement showed a WY hunter harvest reduction of elk around 21%.
  • CO hunters are concerned about the impacts our state may have

  • Annual wolf predation losses to big game hunters are $187,000 to $464,000, but WY estimates of reduced hunter spending are closer to $2.9 million.

  • Wolf-centered ecotourism in Yellowstone has generated around $35.5 million in revenue

  • Due to CO's terrain, it may

not be feasible to have similar

tourism income

Livestock Depredation

  • In 2019, Wyoming Environmental Impact Statements showed that cattle and sheep losses had an annual average of $11,300 for the first few years after the initial reintroduction to Yellowstone

  • This has increased to around $63,818 per year as the wolf populations have increased in the Greater Yellowstone Area

  • Currently Colorado has plans to use state funds to assist livestock owners to pay a fair compensation from livestock conflicts/ losses due to wolves
  • Endangered Species Act (ESA)
  • Gray wolves were one of the first species listed on the ESA, and was listed for more than 45 years
  • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list for all lower 48 states
  • Heavily controversial topic

  • Proposition 114
  • 2020 ballot initiative directing the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to develop plan to reintroduce gray wolves into Colorado on the Western Slope
  • Passed on Nov. 3rd, 2020
  • Have designated lands west of the Continental Divide by Dec. 31st, 2023
  • CPW will work with stakeholders statewide to create a plan that provides the best chance for the species to thrive in Colorado

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