Wolves hot topic on campus
By ABBE SMITH Colorado Daily Staff
Four days after the January “full wolf moon,” named according to Farmers
Almanac tradition, scientist and author Dr. James Halfpenny will speak at
the University of Colorado about returning their native lands to the
wolves.
Halfpenny will talk about and sign copies of his book, “Yellowstone Wolves
in the Wild,” at 5 p.m. Sunday in room 235 at CU’s University Memorial
Center.
Sinapu, CU Sinapu and the Sierra Club are sponsors of the event. Sinapu,
the Ute word for “wolves,” is an organization dedicated to restoring the
balance of biodiversity in the Southern Rockies.
Halfpenny wants to focus on the biology and ecology of wolf
reintroduction. But he acknowledges that there are politics at play as
well.
“We are completing an ecosystem that we broke 10 years ago,” he said. “But
there are real costs with that too. If you are a cattleman or sheepman,
you’re being asked to support some of that burden.”
With reintroduction, ranchers face the risk of wolves preying on their
livestock. Halfpenny said this is an issue the “wolf people” must address
in their fair pursuit of science.
Joshua Ruschhaupt, director of CU Sinapu, said Halfpenny’s presentation
will explain some of that science.
“Wolves are considered a keystone species, meaning [the species] has a
watershed effect on its environment,” Ruschhaupt said.
He said Halfpenny’s book names ways wolves have had a positive effect on
the park. More native grasses are present, and there is less overgrazing.
Rob Edward, director of Sinapu’s Carnivore Recovery Program, said this
success could translate into a solution for Rocky Mountain National Park’s
decline in aspen groves. He suggested wolves keep elk populations on the
move, thus reducing overgrazing of aspen saplings.
“If there’s no reason for elk to be vigilant all the time, they will
overexploit their food source,” he said.
Edward said wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone has spurred a significant
increase in aspen and willows in the Wyoming park.
Halfpenny, a past fellow with CU’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine
Research, is an expert on carnivore ecology, animal tracking and alpine
ecology. His research has taken him as far away as Kenya, Tanzania, China
and Greenland.
In addition to wolves, he has tracked such carnivores as mountain lions,
lynx, bears and – what’s left of – dinosaurs.