DENVER, CO – JANUARY 13: A woman holds a sign in support of the introduction of wolves into Colorado at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife offices on January 13, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. Protesters for and against a resolution to ban any introduction of wolves into Colorado, mainly the Mexican wolf. (Photo by Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)
In January, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted not to allow the reintroduction of wolves back into the state.
That’s too bad, because wolves are coming. They may already be here. You don’t think so? Then why is there a wolf-sighting form on the wildlife commission’s website, and why do so many Coloradans claim to have seen Canis lupus in the high country?
Theories on how top-tier predators are crucial in ordering and stabilizing landscapes have now been proven. To understand the potential for wolves in Colorado, we can study lessons learned from two decades of wolf recovery in Yellowstone National Park.
I teach my college students that wolves brought butterflies back to Yellowstone. I explain that wolves cut the coyote population in half. With fewer coyotes there are more small rodents and mammals aerating the soil and providing better grasses and flowers. But the largest and most dramatic effect has been culling the Yellowstone elk herd.
By 1995, the ungulates had done severe damage to the park. Wolves changed that. As wolf packs began to hunt elk, the wapiti were slowed and caught in downed timber along rivers and streams. So elk learned safety meant higher sagebrush benches where they could see and smell better. With fewer elk, plants recovered. Aspen thrived. And in this new, thicker forest of riverine vegetation, beaver colonies established small pools, attracting other animals, insects and, yes, butterflies. The human dynamic changed, too. Thousands of wolf watchers at Yellowstone National Park add $35 million annually to the area’s economy.
Source: Wolves belong back home in Colorado – The Denver Post