Wolf management over the past 30 years, from recovery under the Endangered Species Act to current day-to-day management of wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains, will be the topic of discussion on Oct. 2 at the next Draper Natural History Museum Lunchtime Expedition.
Wolf biologist Mike Jimenez will give the free talk, titled “Wolf Recovery: A Success Story,” at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyo.
Jimenez, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s wolf coordinator for the Northern Rockies, will also delve into the balancing act necessary in wolf management. He explained, “We balance the need to protect wolves under the Endangered Species Act and allow the population to grow, yet also protect folks who live in wolf country — for example, rural agricultural communities that raise livestock — and are directly affected by wolves.”
A wolf biologist for the past 28 years, Jimenez started his career in research when only a few wolves had begun migrating from Canada to northwestern Montana. He has worked in British Columbia, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. From 1999-2012, Jimenez served as the USFWS’s project leader for wolf recovery in Wyoming before taking his position as the agency’s northern Rocky Mountains wolf coordinator.