Wolf brings questions to Utah
By RICH VOSEPKA
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Now that the gray wolf has returned to Utah, the question for wildlife mangers, ranchers and environmentalists is what to do about it.
The answers will vary and conflict is almost certain, but a top official with the nation’s wolf program says people in Utah will eventually get used to wolves.
Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It’s been expected from the start that the wide-ranging predators would migrate to neighboring areas with suitable habitat and prey.
Their presence in Utah was confirmed Nov. 30, when a trapper near Morgan, about 22 miles over mountainous terrain from Salt Lake City, caught a 2-year-old male wolf in a trap set for coyotes. It is the first proof that wolves have returned to Utah after being eradicated 70 years ago. Tracks indicate that a second wolf is in the area as well.
“Normally, when wolves come into a new area, people get excited about it,” said Joe Fontaine, assistant coordinator for the federal Wolf Recovery Program. “There’s going to be a lot of rumors running around.”
Over time, he says, people’s tolerance and understanding for wolves increases. He’s been dealing with wolves — and people’s reaction to them — since the Western reintroduction program began.
The Utah wolf, which was captured alive, was returned to the Druid Peak pack in northeastern Yellowstone National Park on the night of Dec. 2.
But additional wolves found in Utah will stay put, Fontaine said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has met its recovery goals for the endangered gray wolf. There now are close to 700 wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the core of the recovery area. The agency expects to reclassify the wolf, moving it off the Endangered Species List, possibly by the first of the year.
“As long as they’re not getting into any trouble, we’re going to leave them alone,” said Diane Katzenberger, a Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman in Denver.
That would give states more control over wolf management decisions. But for now, Utah wildlife officials are taking a “wait and see” approach,” said Miles Moretti, assistant director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
Depending upon the conditions of the federal delisting plan, Utah’s options could range from trying to prevent a wolf pack from establishing itself at all, to identifying certain areas suitable for wolves to propagate, he said.
Wildlife biologists at Utah State University have released a report saying the state’s habitat could support up to 700 wolves.
“Wolves in Utah: An Analysis of Potential Impacts and Recommendations for Management” is careful to note it “does not advocate for wolf reintroduction,” but it also debunks much of the criticism against wolf reintroduction.
It finds that, in theory, up to 700 wolves could survive in the state, but more realistically that number would be about 200. It says most of the animals would be scattered through potential wolf habitat in the Bear River Range, the Uinta Mountains and the Book Cliffs.
C. Booth Wallentine, CEO of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, doesn’t welcome the wolf’s return: “We do not believe there is a safe place in Utah for wolves, where they won’t constantly do damage,” Wallentine said.
Utah doesn’t have the vast tracts of wild land that exist in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, where wolf recovery efforts have been focused, he said. Livestock depredation is certain.
This summer, 15 sheep were killed near the Monte Cristo Range, not far from where the wolf was trapped, he said.
“Fifteen head of sheep in one or two days — you can’t ask a sheep rancher to take that kind of loss,” Wallentine said. “Of course we are opposed to the establishment of a population in Utah, but we know they’re going to come.”
Wallentine thinks the wolf that was returned to Yellowstone will make its way back to Utah to establish its own turf.
The arrival is delightful news for others.
“It’s a very exciting event,” said Lawson LeGate, senior regional representative for the Sierra Club. “There’s plenty of land in Utah where wolves can flourish.”
LeGate says the wolf’s return is a symbol of something bigger: “We’re in danger of losing the heart and soul of our American spirit when we lose the last of our wild species, the last of our wild places.”
The success of the Western wolf population is proof that the Endangered Species Act is working, he said.
State wildlife officials will now have to work to come up with their own plan for dealing with wolves.
Officials in Idaho have already written a management plan. Montana is expected to finalize its plan by the end of the year. Wyoming is holding public hearings on a management proposal, and the meetings have drawn hundreds of people during the past few weeks.
Those states are in the heart of wolf country. They need to have plans in place before the wolf is taken off the endangered list.
Dealing with wolves isn’t just a question for biologists, Moretti of the Utah DWR said.
“It’s such a social issue, there’s going to be a lot of views both ways,” Moretti said, and Utah’s management plan will take that into account.