http://www1.standard.net/stories/local/03-2001/FTP0296@local@01wolfmain@Ogden.asp
The wolves are at Utah's door
State preparing for when predator wanders into state
Thursday, March 01, 2001
By JIM WRIGHT
Standard-Examiner staff
Sometime soon the first gray wolf will cross the artificial boundary that
marks the Utah state line.
When and where that will be, no one knows. It may be this year, or next. It
may not happen for five years, or 10. The wolf may choose to make its home
in the upper reaches of the Logan River drainage. It may wander into the
Uinta Mountains.
But what will happen once it gets here? Will it be driven off? Will it be
shot and killed? Will it be welcomed?
That's what the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will attempt to figure
out over the next couple of years, as it begins putting together a
management plan for gray wolves.
The DWR has made plans to create an ad hoc committee to come up with a
statewide policy on the management of gray wolves that enter the state,
said Mike Wolfe, the DWR's mammals program coordinator.
"The committee will address the real question of whether there's a place in
Utah for wolves or not," Wolfe said.
It will certainly be a challenge for the group -- probably a dozen or more
people, with wide-ranging interests -- to come to a consensus. But it's
been done before. In the last two years, the DWR established committees to
recommend management strategies for black bear and cougar, and the
committee members managed to agree on a plan.
Deciding how to deal with wolves will probably be trickier, Wolfe said.
"One of the things we joke about is (that) we'll need people that are
young, because the committee may have a long life span," Wolfe said.
Environmental groups have long pushed for the recovery of wolf populations
in Utah, although it's been generally opposed by the livestock industry and
sportsmen's groups.
All of these groups will likely have representation on the committee, Wolfe
said.
Kirk Robinson, coordinator of the Salt Lake City-based environmental group,
Western Wildlife Conservancy, said it's important that the "average
citizen" has a say in the management of wolves in Utah.
"The wolf issue tends to generate a lot of passion," Robinson said. "I
don't think something like this is going to fly with the larger
environmental community in Utah without its strong representation."
Don Peay, director of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said 65 percent of
the membership opposes having wolves in Utah.
"It's a fantasy that nature balances itself, especially when we have two
million wolves in Utah already -- called people," Peay said. "There's only
so much pressure that can be put on our deer and elk herds. Wolves don't
eat granola, and they're not like bears that hibernate; they're out there
eating every day of the year."
The most important thing the committee will have to do is sift through the
numerous studies that have been done on wolves and see how they apply to
Utah, said Brigham City resident Jerry Mason, a board member of the Utah
Wildlife Federation and chairman of both the cougar and black bear committees.
"I think if we can get facts on the table, instead of rumors, we'll find
there are places you can have wolves in places where they can be tolerated
by those who don't want them and where they can be loved by people that
love them," Mason said.
Wolfe said the DWR will probably hold several informational meetings around
the state, about the end of April, before it actually sets up the committee.
Regardless of public opinion, Wolfe said, there are some things that will
be outside of the committee's agenda. There's no possibility of a wolf
transplant, for example, because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has
halted its reintroduction program.
Likewise, there will be no "shoot-to-kill" policy, because the gray wolf is
now protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for the management
of reintroduced wolf packs in the United States, has, however, proposed to
change the status of the gray wolf.
The wolf is currently considered an "endangered" animal. The FWS proposes
to reclassify it to "threatened," a less restrictive category, said Ed
Bangs of the FWS Gray Wolf Recovery Coordinator in Helena, Mont.
"It's mainly a change in status that allows more management options, mainly
on problem animals," Bangs said. "If a rancher sees a wolf attacking
livestock on private land, he can shoot and kill it. But overall, wolves
will still be fully protected by the (Endangered Species) Act."
Bangs said the wolf will probably be downlisted by July. It's been a hotly
debated topic. The FWS received over 15,000 written comments during the
comment period.
And it's likely the wait for wolves in Utah won't be long.
Already, there have been numerous reports of wolf-like animals in Utah the
last few years, including four reports last year in the Cache Valley.
Dennis Austin, a DWR wildlife biologist in the Cache Valley, said three of
those reports were quickly dismissed as wolf hybrids. But the fourth, he
said, was a little more intriguing.
"One sighting on the Cache sounded pretty good," Austin said. "The guy knew
what he was talking about."