With the massacre(s) of the American Indian tribes and the slaughter of the great buffalo herds in the 1800’s, white settlers shifted their attention to wolves and other wildife. Specifically, the livestock association(s), in conjunction with counties and states, began bounty programs aimed at killing as many wolves as possible. Extensive trapping and poisoning campaigns became the norm. Tens of thousands of wolves were killed in a matter of years.
In the early 1900’s, the US Forest Service took up wolf killing programs, then rangers did the same for the National Park Service. Things took a turn for the worse, however, when local bounty programs shifted to federally subsidized wildlife extermination campaigns. Specifically, the US Biological Survey, a taxpayer funded scientific research arm of the United States Department of Agriculture, was turned into a wildlife “control” agency focused on killing predators, specifically wolves, on behalf of the livestock industry. Today, the US Biological Survey is called Wildlife Services.
10-Month Killing Season in IdahoBy the middle of the 20th Century, the grey wolf was all but eliminated from the lower 48. Outside of Alaska, the only known population was in the upper reaches of Minnesota. In 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law, visionary legislation that mandated the recovery of imperiled plant and animal species, including grey wolves. Within days of passage, the “Rocky Mountain grey wolf ” was listed as a species for recovery.Fast forward to 1995. President Bill Clinton and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt worked with public officials to recover grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park and the wilds of north-central Idaho. After a failed last-minute attempt by the American Farm Bureau Federation to block reintroduction, (29) wolves were released into the wild, marking the first step towards biological recovery of the species.
After conservation groups successfully challenged the latest delisting efforts by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Montana Senator Jon Tester intervened, and attached a rider to a must-pass spending bill in 2011, automatically removing the northern Rockies grey wolf population from the Endangered Species List. The rider also exempted judicial review of the delisting. As a result, states have now assumed management of the species and killed over 1,100 wolves in two-years time.
Grey Wolves Feed Scavengers and Increase BiodiversityScientific studies have shown that grey wolf recovery is an essential component of a healthy forest ecosystem. The grey wolf is an apex predator whose presence benefits dozens of other species, increasing biodiversity. Soils, plant communities, riparian areas, and aquatic species all benefit from the presence of wolves. This phenomenon is known as a trophic cascade.
Wolves also regulate ungulate herds by maintaining healthy populations through culling the old and sick animals. This helps prevent the spread of disease throughout the herd. Predator pressure keeps elk herds moving, which prevents overgrazing, leading to more resilient native plant communities and biodiversity. Every wolf killed, whether by hunting, poaching, and/or aerial gunning tactics, lessens the species ability to fulfill their ecological niche on the landscape.
If you are interested in learning more about the history of predator policy in the United States, than Predator Bureaucracy: The Extermination of Wolves and the Transformation of the West is a must read.
If you are interested in learning more about the ecological role that wolves play in a wildland ecosystem, than Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators is a must watch.
In the early 1900’s, the US Forest Service took up wolf killing programs, then rangers did the same for the National Park Service. Things took a turn for the worse, however, when local bounty programs shifted to federally subsidized wildlife extermination campaigns. Specifically, the US Biological Survey, a taxpayer funded scientific research arm of the United States Department of Agriculture, was turned into a wildlife “control” agency focused on killing predators, specifically wolves, on behalf of the livestock industry. Today, the US Biological Survey is called Wildlife Services.
10-Month Killing Season in IdahoBy the middle of the 20th Century, the grey wolf was all but eliminated from the lower 48. Outside of Alaska, the only known population was in the upper reaches of Minnesota. In 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law, visionary legislation that mandated the recovery of imperiled plant and animal species, including grey wolves. Within days of passage, the “Rocky Mountain grey wolf ” was listed as a species for recovery.Fast forward to 1995. President Bill Clinton and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt worked with public officials to recover grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park and the wilds of north-central Idaho. After a failed last-minute attempt by the American Farm Bureau Federation to block reintroduction, (29) wolves were released into the wild, marking the first step towards biological recovery of the species.
After conservation groups successfully challenged the latest delisting efforts by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Montana Senator Jon Tester intervened, and attached a rider to a must-pass spending bill in 2011, automatically removing the northern Rockies grey wolf population from the Endangered Species List. The rider also exempted judicial review of the delisting. As a result, states have now assumed management of the species and killed over 1,100 wolves in two-years time.
Grey Wolves Feed Scavengers and Increase BiodiversityScientific studies have shown that grey wolf recovery is an essential component of a healthy forest ecosystem. The grey wolf is an apex predator whose presence benefits dozens of other species, increasing biodiversity. Soils, plant communities, riparian areas, and aquatic species all benefit from the presence of wolves. This phenomenon is known as a trophic cascade.
Wolves also regulate ungulate herds by maintaining healthy populations through culling the old and sick animals. This helps prevent the spread of disease throughout the herd. Predator pressure keeps elk herds moving, which prevents overgrazing, leading to more resilient native plant communities and biodiversity. Every wolf killed, whether by hunting, poaching, and/or aerial gunning tactics, lessens the species ability to fulfill their ecological niche on the landscape.
If you are interested in learning more about the history of predator policy in the United States, than Predator Bureaucracy: The Extermination of Wolves and the Transformation of the West is a must read.
If you are interested in learning more about the ecological role that wolves play in a wildland ecosystem, than Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators is a must watch.