RMEF Grant to Help Wolf Management in Wyoming

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recently announced that a $50,000 grant from the organization will assist the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) with its wolf management plan.

The funding will expand WGFD’s knowledge of predator-prey interactions between wolves and elk. It will also expand the radio collar program to help managers better understand the home range, territory size, pack size and other biological traits and actions of the wolf so they can better implement management techniques.

“It is vital that state agencies have a firm grasp on predator populations in order to properly implement science-based management practices,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “This grant will help WGFD gain more knowledge to better understand its wolf population so it can better implement its approved wolf management plan.”

"Our partnership with the RMEF is extremely valuable to us and this grant shows how this relationship continues to develop great opportunities for conservation," said Tom Ryder, Wildlife Assistant Division Chief for WGFD. “This grant will help the Department execute its adaptive wolf management plan by helping to increase our knowledge of wolf/elk interactions, wolf home range, and pack and territory size. Each of these biological components is important for the management plan and to our shared constituents."

In keeping with the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, RMEF supports state-regulated hunting and trapping as the preferred tools of wolf management. RMEF staunchly supports management to balance and control wolf populations.

RMEF also remains committed to learning more about wolves through research efforts. Since 1989, RMEF invested nearly $664,000 in research grants to advance scientific understanding of wolves, wolf interactions with other species, and overall wolf management. The total includes $174,079 in Wyoming-specific research projects and more than $200,000 in science grants in just the past five years. Most of the contributions paid for independent research by leading universities, state and federal wildlife conservation agencies and tribes.

“Part of RMEF’s mission is to ensure the future of elk and other wildlife,” said Allen. “This grant helps managers do just that in Wyoming by helping them know how many wolves are out there, where they travel and what effect they have on elk, deer and other ungulates.”

RMEF will allocate nearly $2.9 million for elk and wildlife-related conservation projects in 27 states with wild, free-ranging elk populations in 2013. Additionally $570,000 will also be allocated to hunting heritage programs in 49 states.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

Learn about wolves, wolf-hybrids at Navajo State Park

If you've ever wanted to learn about wolves, you should plan on attending a special event on Labor Day weekend at Navajo State Park.

Wolfwood Refuge, a wildlife sanctuary in Ignacio, will be bringing Trinity, a full-blooded wolf, wolf-hybrids and other dogs to the park and present a program about these special animals. Staff members of Wolfwood will talk about wolves, explain the role of sanctuaries and about their work to preserve wolves. Those attending the program will be allowed to interact with the animals.

Wolfwood is a state-licensed non-profit facility that promotes the understanding of wolves and their relationships with humans. The organization travels throughout the state and makes educational presentations.

All wolves and wolf-hybrids in Colorado are captive. There are no wild wolves in Colorado.

The Wolfwood program is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, August 31st, at the visitors' center at Navajo State Park. The program is free. Entrance to the park costs $7 per car.

Navajo State Park is located about 30 miles southwest of Pagosa Springs. For more information about the park or the program, please call 970-883-2208.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

Court Upholds Decision On Elk Thinning In Rocky Mountain National Park

The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday against WildEarth Guardians’ challenge to the National Park Service for its refusal to restore wolves to Rocky Mountain National Park. The grassroots organization argued that wolves would be much more effective in managing the burgeoning elk population in the park, rather than the continued use of sharpshooters to cull the herd.

“Despite the fact that wolves provide enormous ecological benefits to both elk and ecosystems that human sharpshooters simply cannot, the court ruled in favor of the sharpshooters,” said Wendy Keefover, Director of Carnivore Protection for WildEarth Guardians. “Wolves would do a far better job of culling the weak, the sick, and consistently moving sedentary elk away from fragile streams. Sharpshooters will never have the same ecological benefits on the landscape.”

The Park Service recognized the need to manage overpopulated elk in Rocky Mountain National Park in a December 2007 management plan, but the agency only briefly considered a wolf reintroduction as the preferred option to control elk herds. Guardians had argued that the agency’s decision-making process not only violated federal planning mandates, its decision to use sharpshooters also violated the agency’s organic act that established the Park Service as an agency that is supposed to prioritize conservation.

“Wolves keep getting a bad rap from agencies, Congress, and the courts, and we are so disappointed that they cannot return to their ancestral home – even in a national park where they are beloved by the overwhelming majority of citizens,” said Keefover. “This outcome is going to be a huge disappointment to the over 70 percent of Coloradoans who want wolves back.”

Although park officials once proposed the reintroduction of wolves as a possible solution, that option was quickly dropped. The agency stated there was little support from coordinating agencies, concerns from neighboring communities and a high potential for human-wolf conflicts. Officials also warned that managing wolves in the park would be expensive and time-consuming.

The appeals court ruling stated: "We find the record supports the agency’s decision to exclude consideration of a natural wolf alternative” from its elk management plan.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com