In a Forest Recreation course at CSU, my professor introduced me to “A Sand County Almanac,” in which Aldo Leopold, the father of game management in America, wrote much about wolves. Leopold shot one, and over the course of his career rued it, writing: “Since then (as wolves and mountain lions were annihilated) I have lived to see ... every edible bush and seedling browsed ... to death.”
What have we learned in the 25 years since wolves were restored to Yellowstone and central Idaho? Elk are more numerous now in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming than when wolves were returned in 1995, and wolves are continuing their work of keeping their prey healthy. Livestock losses are minuscule.
Not one of the visitors to Yellowstone has been hurt, and no one in wolf country has caught anything harmful from a wolf. The park ecosystem has been rejuvenated; visitors are flocking to see wolves; they are contributing $35 million annually to nearby counties.
Proposition 114, to restore wolves to the Western Slope, is on November’s ballot. Voting to have wolves back in our mountains is an audacious act of hope.
Norman BishopBozeman, Montana
