During a recent presentation at the University of
Colorado by a Boulder-based wolf recovery organization, Sinapu, a
captive-raised wolf named Rami was introduced to the audience. As
Rami calmly walked up and down the aisles with her handler,
sniffing boots and licking faces, audience members sat in awed
silence.
Wolves, like many other predators, are
romantic symbols of the wild. They are also political lightning
rods. Restoration projects under way in the Yellowstone region,
central Idaho and northern Arizona have faced years of opposition,
and there’s an ongoing controversy in Colorado over the
reintroduction of a smaller predator, the endangered Canada lynx
(HCN, 5/10/99).
Nevertheless, Sinapu has begun an
effort to return the wolf to the Southern Rockies. After the
federal Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that western Colorado
could support over 1,000 wolves, Sinapu picked up where the agency
left off, mapping potential wolf habitat based on prey
availability, roadless areas, and public-land ownership. The final
map represents two years of data-gathering and ongoing partnerships
with various scientific groups and conservation organizations.
Sinapu is also assembling a steering committee for its
reintroduction project, and the group is continuing its educational
outreach efforts. The Durango-based San Juan Citizens’ Alliance,
one of Sinapu’s partners, is working on a proposal for the San Juan
National Forest. Called the Wild San Juans Plan, it will be
submitted as an alternative to the proposed Forest Service
management plan.
Reintroduction supporters face
huge political hurdles in Colorado, a state with a rancher-friendly
legislature and a wildlife commission with a policy against wolves
and grizzlies. Fred Wahl, who works on threatened and endangered
species for the Forest Service, says he “can’t see that (a
reintroduction effort) would get very far.” Federal agencies are
reluctant to take up the battle, Wahl says, because the Fish and
Wildlife Service has not identified Colorado as a wolf recovery
zone.
Supporters of wolves, however, believe
science and popular support will win out in the end. “In the early
“80s, I couldn’t imagine that in my lifetime there’d be wolves in
Yellowstone, Montana and Idaho again,” says Mark Pearson,
coordinator of the Wild San Juans Plan. “Yet they’ve been there for
years and are thriving.”
For more information,
contact Sinapu at 303/447-8655 or the San Juan Citizens’ Alliance
at 970/259-3583. – Catherine Lutz
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wolves at Colorado’s door?.
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