Transcript Presentation

The Gray Wolf, a Burden or a Benefit to
the Landscape? A Stakeholder Analysis
Surrounding Wolves in the Greater
Yellowstone Area
Sara C. Meicho, Ashley C. Kees, Julius P. Jacobsen,
Kami M. Koyamatsu and Arielle S. C. Fontaine
Professors Vince Gallucci, John Marzluff, and Mark Miller
ESRM 458 - Human Dimensions of Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Outline
• Introduction
• Clients
• History
– Wolves and YNP
– Political History
• Current population
• Stakeholders
–
–
–
–
–
Governance Institutions
Hunters
Ranchers
The Scientific Realm
Non profits
• Recommendations
• Conclusions
Introduction and Explanation
• Yellowstone Controversy longlived, no end in sight
• Stakeholders analysis to
inform people on the human
dimensions side of controversy
• Used government web sites,
organization blogs, news paper
articles, organization web
sites, signed letters, federal
documents, federal register,
etc.
• Only way to get past this issue
and move on is to gain cultural
acceptance and compromise
from ALL sides
Clients
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Montana Farm Bureau Federation
Idaho Farm Bureau Federation
Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Idaho Fish and Game
Wyoming Game and Fish
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
National Rifle Association
Defenders of Wildlife
Senator Orrin Hatch
Congressman Denny Rehberg
C.L. “Butch” Otter (Governor of ID)
Brian D. Schweitzer (Governor of MT)
Matt Mead (Governor of WY)
The History of Gray Wolves and
Yellowstone Reintroduction
• The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is one of the most
widespread species of any top carnivore, historically
occupying the niche of top-down management across
North America, Russia, India, and all of Europe.
• Once the most widely distributed carnivores in the
United States, gray wolves
have now disappeared from
much of their historical
territory following
Euro-American settlement
• Wolves affected by long-term
control efforts in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s,
extirpated entirely from Yellowstone in the mid 1920’s
The History of Gray Wolves and
Yellowstone Reintroduction
• Removal of a key predator from the region
resulted in imbalances of trophic cascades, most
notably a dramatic increase in elk populations
– Greater vegetation impacts
– Long term program of elk culling in the park up until
1968—the end of which caused exponential growth
until wolf reintroduction in 1995
• In 1995-1996, 31 wolves were reintroduced and
able to increase under the ESA, since then recolonizing all 8991 km2 the park and beyond
Political History
•
1978: listed as endangered at the species level throughout the conterminous 48
states and Mexico (exception of Minnesota)
•
1987: Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan
•
Portions of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming designated as two nonessential
experimental population areas
•
Reintroduction of wolves to Central Idaho and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
•
Numerical, distributional and temporal recovery goals achieved for the NRM wolf
population (2000 & 2002)
•
Listing, Delisting, Relisting, Delisting and Relisting: a tumultuous and inconsistent
history
 Two attempts to remove the species from under ESA protection (2008 & 2009)
 Lawsuits resulting in reinstatement of Federal protections
•
2011: Denny Rehberg’s 509 bill calls to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973
to provide that the act shall not apply to the gray wolf
Status
Current Status
Endangered
http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=A00D
Threatened
Experimental
Not
Protected
Montana
Idaho
Wyoming
State
Colorado
Michigan
Nevada
New Mexico
North Dakota
Oregon
South Dakota
Utah
Washington
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
Alaska
Known
Population
604
690
2,922
835
524
240
7,700 - 11,200
Stakeholders:
• Department of Fish and
Wildlife
– Protect listed species (ESA)
– Work to keep species from
extinct.
Governance and
Institutions
• The National Park Service
– Yellowstone National Park
– Policy: restore native spp to
areas they once inhabited but
were extirpated
Stakeholders:
Governance and
Institutions
The States
• Idaho (IDFG)
– >15 breeding pairs
– Hunting pop. large enough
– Training successful hunting
and trapping
– Public education programs
• Montana (MFWP)
–
–
–
–
15 packs = ‘trigger’ number
< 15: non-lethal mgnt
>15: lethal mgnt acceptable
Large enough population
• Listed as furbearer/big game
animal
• Hunting season
Stakeholders:
• Wyoming (WGFD)
–
–
–
–
Governance and
Institutions
The States
Maintain 15 packs
7 outside national parks
Min. 10 total packs
NW Wyoming: Trophy
• Regulated hunting
– Rest: Predatory
• Take w/out permit any time
• Wind River Indian
Reservation (Salish,
Kootenai, Pend d’Oreille
tribes)
– Non-lethal mgnt
– Not work > kill 1 or 2
– Not work > kill whole pack
• Permission USFWS and Tribal
Council
– Inform public ecology and
mgnt wolf
Stakeholders:
States – Economic
Benefits
• Tourism comprises a significant proportion of state economy
• 150,000 people visit Yellowstone National Park just to see wolves
• 35.5 million dollars of additional revenue
• Top species for 44% park visitors
•
Ecotourism
• 30 outfitters in YNP rely on wolves to stay in business
• Supports other businesses year round
• Wildlife watching top activity for tourists
•
Economic Benefits outweigh negative effects of wolves
Stakeholders:
Hunters
• There is a long standing tradition of hunting in the
American Northwest, the people have a traditional and
cultural investment in hunting
• Hunters would have wolves delisted to improve hunting
conditions and reduce the hassles of cohabitation
• Arguments for delisting include:
– Wolf numbers exceed that
prescribed by the recovery plan
implemented by the USFWS in
1994
– Large declines of elk herds from
wolf predation
– This is worrisome for a generation
accustomed to very large herds
Stakeholders:
Hunters
• Hunters benefit from wolf predation in the
sense that game animals with weaker genetics
are likely to be removed from herds, keeping
genetics strong as opposed to simply large
populations. Trophy animals rarely fall to wolf
take which is also good
news for hunters
• Challenge of balancing
wolf take and hunters
take of ungulate game
species
Stakeholders:
Ranchers
• Direct consumption of livestock
– 0.11% of cattle losses in all of U.S. (2005)
– Over $829,000 in sheep losses alone in WY, MT, ID (2009)
• Behavioral shifts of livestock
– Reduced fecundity, weight loss
• Domestic Dogs
– Predation
– Disease transmission
• Changing ranching culture
• Beneficial decrease in elk population
– Decreased foraging competition
Stakeholders:
Ranchers
Efforts to Coexist
• Permanent and portable
fencing
• Fladry
• Human Presence
•
•
•
•
Disposing of carcasses
RAG boxes
Non-lethal ammunition
Compensation for losses
Stakeholders:
Scientific Realm
•
Predators exert complex influences on the ecosystems to which they belong
•
Removal of wolves:
• elk irruptions
• range deterioration
• reduced diversity of both flora and fauna
•
•
Reintroduction of wolves:
Trophic cascades with changes observed in
• woody browse species
• beaver numbers
• coyote population
• pronghorn antelope population
• and more
Stakeholders:
Scientific Realm
“The reintroduction of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park surely ranks,
symbolically and ecologically, among the most important acts of wildlife
conservation in the 20th century” (Smith et al. 2003)
• Wolves could play an important role in maintaining and preserving the
stability and proper functioning of the ecosystem
Biologists:
• welcomed the reintroduction of wolves and their protection under the
ESA
• do not oppose delisting so long as proper management plans are in
place in all three states to ensure that the benefits of previous
restoration efforts are maintained
Stakeholders:
Non-Profit
Organizations
• The Greater Yellowstone Coalition and Defenders
of Wildlife are at the forefront of the debate
• Successfully fought USFWS’s decision to delist in 2008 &
2010
• Promoting Coexistence between wolves and
humans
• Defenders Wolf Compensation Trust (now state-run)
• Wolf Coexistence Program
– Proactive approach: non-lethal management
• 1998 Wildlife Proactive Carnivore Fund
• Livestock Producer Advisory Council
Recommendations
• Time to delist
• Compromise between all parties to achieve a balance
that will ensure social, biological and economical
sustainability
• Hunting season
– Support of sportsmen
– Increased revenue
• Ecosystem Balance
– Top predator control
– Trophic Cascades
• Money spent on other species
Recommendations (continued)
• In order for the gray wolf to be delisted from the
ESA these actions need to be taken
–
–
–
–
Adequate management plan from WY
Cohesion of state management plans
Enforcement of management plans
Continued funding of wolf population monitoring
projects
– Encouragement of nonlethal methods
– Continued public education on management plans,
wolf ecology and conflict avoidance
Sources
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ashe, D.M. 2010. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reinstatement of Protections for the Gray Wolf in the Northern Rocky Mountains in Compliance
With a Court Order. Federal Register, 75(206):65574-65579.
"Background and Recovery of Northern Rockies and Yellowstone Area Wolves - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife(A) - Protection of Endangered Species,
Imperiled Species, Habitats. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/imperiled_species/wolves/wolf_recovery_efforts/northern_rockies_wolves/background_a
nd_recovery/>.
Beschta, R.L. and W.J. Ripple. 2009. Large predators and trophic cascades in terrestrial ecosystems of the western United States. Biological Conservation 11:24012414.
Beschta, R.L. and W.J. Ripple. 2010. Recovering riparian plant communities with wolves in Northern Yellowstone, U.S.A. Restoration Ecology 18(3):380-389.
"Defenders of Wildlife Proactive Carnivore Conservation Fund - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife(B) - Protection of Endangered Species, Imperiled Species,
Habitats. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. <http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/solutions/carnivore_conservation_fund/index.php>.
Defenders of Wildlife vs. Ken Salazar. 164 U.S. District Court for the District of Missoula. August 8 2010.
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/wolves/newRuling/wolfOrder8_10.pdf
Duffield, John, Chris Neher, and David Patterson. "Wolves and People in Yellowstone: Impacts on the Regional Economy." Defenders of Wildlife (C). Sept. 2006. Web.
13 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.defenders.org/resources/publications/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/imperiled_species/wolf/northern_rockies_wolf/wolves_and_peopl
e_in_yellowstone.pdf>.
Earthjustice. 2010. Federal Court Reinstates Federal Wolf Protections. Earthjustice. Available from: <http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2010/federal-courtreinstates-federal-wolf-protections> [13 February 2011].
Estes, J.A., C.H. Peterson, and R.S. Steneck. 2010. Some effects of apex predators in higher-latitude coastal oceans. Chapter 3 in Trophic cascades: predators, prey, and
the changing dynamics of nature. Island Press, Washington, USA. pp. 37-53.
Farquhar, Brodie. "Gray Wolves Increase Tourism in Yellowstone National Park." Yellowstone Park. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.yellowstonepark.com/MoreToKnow/ShowNewsDetails.aspx?newsid=182>.
Farquhar, Brodie. "Wolves Bring Economic Benefit to Wyoming? | Wyoming Business Report." Wyoming Business Report -- Business and Industry News, Analysis and
Data and Statistics for All of Wyoming. 1 July 2008. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.wyomingbusinessreport.com/article.asp?id=94868>.
“Final Wyoming Gray Wolf Management Plan.” Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. 16
Nov. 2007. Web 16 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolf/WolfFinal2007WyomingGr
ayWolfManagementPlan.pdf>.
"Frequently Asked Questions: Transitioning Wolf Compensation." Defenders of Wildlife (D). Web. 14 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.defenders.org/resources/publications/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/solutions/faq_transitioning_wolf_compensation.pdf>.
Google images
Endchanges
slide the role of Homo
“In short, a land ethic
sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to
• Leopold quote
plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect
for his fellow-members, and also respect for the
community as such.”
-Aldo Leopold
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=gray+wolf&bav=on.2,or.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1366&bih=576