Defenders' Experts
Southern Rockies Wolf Management and Policy
Defenders of Wildlife is:
- encouraging federal and state agencies to reintroduce wolves to Colorado;
- working to protect wolves in Wyoming so that wolves may naturally migrate to Colorado.
Encouraging federal and state agencies to reintroduce wolves to Colorado
Petition to restore wolves to Colorado
Saying "it’s time to put the heart back in the Southern Rockies ecosystem," Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen released that organization’s petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to restore gray wolves to the Southern Rocky Mountains. Schlickeisen made the announcement during the organization’s Carnivores 2000 Conference in Denver, Colorado.
"Gray wolves have an important role to play in the biological health and wholeness of the Southern Rockies, and it’s time for the federal government to get serious about restoring the species here," said Schlickeisen. "Wolves were once at the heart of a rich Rockies ecosystem, and it’s time to put that heart back."
The petition filed by Defenders of Wildlife urges FWS to establish a Distinct Population Segment (DPS) for gray wolves in the Southern Rocky Mountains under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This designation would require FWS to develop and implement a plan for restoration and conservation of wolves in this area, which includes Colorado and Utah, as well as portions of Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico.
The gray wolf is currently listed as "endangered" in all lower 48 states except Minnesota, where it is listed as "threatened." The species has been successfully reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park and re-established in the Northern Rockies. The Mexican wolf has been reintroduced in the area of the U.S.-Mexico border. Still, the gray wolf has been returned to less than 4 percent of its historical range in the lower 48 states.
The petition by Defenders of Wildlife notes that the ESA requires the federal government to work for the recovery of distinct population segments of an endangered species throughout its historical range, where appropriate habitat remains. Habitat surveys have confirmed that the Southern Rockies is an ideal place for wolves, with large numbers and variety of wild prey species and substantial expanses of remote public land.
Without a separate DPS designation for the Southern Rockies, it is highly unlikely that wolves could ever re-establish there, in part because of the distances involved.
The petition filed by Defenders of Wildlife documents the habitat available for wolves in the Southern Rockies and the requirements of the ESA, recommending: "With these conditions in mind we feel that the only solution for recovery of a viable long-term population of gray wolves is through continued federal oversight and the establishment of a Southern Rocky Mountain DPS. The FWS should develop a comprehensive recovery plan for this region and follow it up with whatever steps are deemed necessary to encourage the restoration of this species. Defenders is willing to continue to support the FWS in this process and will continue our long tradition of wolf education and advocacy as well as payment of livestock depredation claims arising from wolves."
Promoting wolf reintroduction in Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park has an elk overpopulation problem. The elk are impacting vegetation, especially in sensitive areas next to streams and rivers. Defenders of Wildlife is promoting reintroduction of wolves as the answer.
Read our comments here.
Protecting wolves in Wyoming so that wolves may naturally migrate to Colorado
The successful wolf reintroduction program in the northern Rockies could one day lead to wolves migrating naturally to Colorado’s southern Rockies. In fact, one radio collared wolf from the northern Rockies effort made its way to central Colorado but was killed by traffic on interstate 70. More wolves may make their way to Colorado, but only if wolves are allowed to roam in Wyoming. Unfortunately, that state is planning to kill all wolves outside of Yellowstone National Park and a few surrounding areas once wolves lose federal protections in the northern Rockies.
Defenders of Wildlife is challenging the Wyoming wolf killing plan.
Learn more here.
Defenders of Wildlife comments
Position statement on southern Rockies wolf reintroduction
Defenders petition for a southern Rockies DPS
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