The return of a native

Deep in the wintry woods of Colorado, a missing link has been restored in our wild kingdom. An ecological and ethical wrong has been righted. After an absence of 80 years, a grey ghost is once again poised to fulfill its vital role in the Central Rockies.

The wolf is back.

In the parlance of wolf advocates: paws are on the ground! A total of 10 grey wolves have been released into their brave new world by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, fulfilling a voter mandate.

As a long-time advocate for wild creatures and wild places, I encourage you to let loose a howl of delight. This is one of the most significant conservation achievements of our lifetime. 

On a continent where native peoples lived in harmony with wolves for millennia, in a culture mired in superstitions about big bad wolves, Coloradans have said, “We can co-exist!”

The road ahead will have bumps. There will be incidents of wolves behaving badly – there may be incidents of people behaving badly – though we’ll hope for a minimum of both. There will definitely be a learning curve. But just as in the Northern Rockies where wolves were restored 25 years ago, we will adapt.

Much attention has been given to ranchers and the challenges they face. Changes will be required, and change is hard. But help is readily available.

Events in North Park, where a small pack of wolves migrated down from Wyoming a few years ago, have demonstrated that ranchers who accept help and adopt new practices have success avoiding problems with wolves. Some of those who have not, are not.

I’ve spoken with ranchers and hunters on many occasions, both here in La Plata County, in North Park, and in northeastern Utah. I’ve listened to their perspectives because I want to understand. I strongly believe in co-existence, in finding solutions where wildlife and ranching thrive. Seldom, however, have I been asked why I want wolves returned to Colorado.

Here are some of those reasons:

• Wolves belong in Colorado. The earliest canids evolved right here on the continent, where they lived for thousands of years before being exterminated as part of a sanitizing of the landscape at the behest of agricultural interests. Restoring wolves rights a terrible wrong.

• Wolves are part of healthy ecosystems. Returning wolves at ecologically effective populations will have a broad range of positive environmental effects, including discouraging elk from over-browsing habitat and restoring riparian ecosystems – in turn allowing for the the return of beavers which initiate their own beneficial impacts.

• In their native habitat there are no good or bad animals. All species are part of the whole and are interconnected in ways we’re coming to incorporate into wildlife management. To value elk and vilify wolves is to misunderstand the basic tenets of ecology.

• Wolves will make elk herds stronger by culling weaker members. They can therefore play an important role in slowing the spread of chronic wasting disease that threatens Colorado’s elk.

Will wolves eat too many elk? No. Statistics provided by Wyoming, Idaho and Montana wildlife agencies show more elk in the Northern Rockies today than before wolves were reintroduced in 1995.

• Wolf restoration shows that wildlife are a public resource. The public has a rightful say in helping make decisions about how wildlife is managed. For too long Colorado has allowed agricultural interests the singular political power to determine which animals we tolerate and which we do not.

• Watching the wolves work. Wolves will not initially be as observable as they are in Yellowstone. But, I predict that in the near future, wolves will make their way to Rocky Mountain National Park where visitors will have front-row seats to the ecological transformation, starting with the desperately needed culling of overpopulated, over-grazing elk. 

• Saving our planet’s wild future. Bringing back wolves to Colorado is a vigorous rebuke to the worldwide downhill slide of wildlife. Restoring wolves restores hope for our planet’s wild future and will encourage other communities to take similar actions to protect threatened or endangered species.

So let’s celebrate, Colorado!

– Clint McKnight, Durango