Gray Wolves on the AT?

[Lilred]

A shame it takes a federal judge to order our president to do the right thing. Maybe we'll be seeing wolves on the AT in the future.




Judge Orders Northeast Wolf Restoration
By DAVID GRAM, AP



AP
The ruling covers the restoration of the gray wolf in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York state.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (Aug. 19) - A federal judge Friday ordered the Bush administration to step up efforts to restore the gray wolf to four northeastern states, a ruling environmentalists called a major victory.

"The wolves are howlin"' in celebration, said Patrick Parenteau, director of the environmental law clinic at Vermont Law School.

Judge J. Garvan Murtha found that the Department of the Interior violated federal law in 2003 when it issued a rule saying no further efforts to restore the wolf were needed. The ruling covers Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York state.

Efforts to restore wolves had been successful in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. The government wanted to lump those states in with the Northeast in a new, 21-state eastern region, and declare that enough had been done to restore wolf populations throughout the eastern United States.

Anthony Tur, a Fish and Wildlife Service field officer in Concord, N.H., said the agency's headquarters in Washington would decide whether to appeal the ruling.

He questioned the push to build gray wolf populations in the Northeast on two fronts, saying it wasn't clear that the public would support such a move and there was dispute in the scientific community about whether gray wolves ever populated the region.

Environmental groups, including the National Wildlife Federation and state groups in Vermont, Maine and New York, joined in the lawsuit. They argued that good wolf habitats exist in northern Maine and in New York's Adirondack Mountains, and that northern Vermont and New Hampshire likely would become an important corridor for wolves migrating between those two habitats.

Parenteau, lead attorney in the case, said his students "did all the hard labor in the case. It's a nice victory for our students."


08-19-05 19:29 EDT

[Tha Wookie]

Yes, the LAST thing the Masters of the Bush Administration want is more endangered species in logging, mining lands, and oil-potential lands.THANK GOD for the other branch of government.

[digger51]

I sure hope we dont start seeing reports of farmers killing the wolves because they supposedly start attacking livestock. That happened when they tried to restore them out west. Wolves are beautiful creatures. Unfortunately humans fear them, and prefer to destroy what they fear.

[Tha Wookie]

I sure hope we dont start seeing reports of farmers killing the wolves because they supposedly start attacking livestock. That happened when they tried to restore them out west. Wolves are beautiful creatures. Unfortunately humans fear them, and prefer to destroy what they fear.I also think that would be unfortunate, but I doubt any animal farmer would really be expected to watch his livestock get eaten.

However, the outright wolf kill like they had in New Mexico and other states was dead wrong. Just ask Aldo Leopold.

In a strange ironic twist, that particular wolf slaughter benefits all hikers greatly.

Trivia: Anyone know how?

[BlackCloud]

[QUOTE=Lilredmg]A shame it takes a federal judge to order our president to do the right thing. Maybe we'll be seeing wolves on the AT in the future.


I'm sure W himself was ordering the wolf-block.

And although I'd love to see a wolf on the trail, I wouldn't want to run into five of them at once, cause that might be it for this ole solo hiker..........:eek:

[Youngblood]

[QUOTE=Lilredmg]...And although I'd love to see a wolf on the trail, I wouldn't want to run into five of them at once, cause that might be it for this ole solo hiker..........:eek:

Especially if they are hungry and looking for a meal. I get a little nervous when I hear a pack of coyotes howling around my campsite at night and will camp farther of the trails that they run at night when I hike where they are plentiful... I would be more nervous if I had kids along or a dog. I figure when they stop for a while, they are sizing me up as a possible meal... they sometimes take their time about leaving which gives me the impression they are at least considering it. Predator animals are great, unless you are their prey. I remember hiking a few years back in some park in southern California where childeren under a certain age where not allowed because they had experiences where cougars attacked and killed one or two young kids over a period of a couple of years. Some folks believe that predatory animals respect humans as if we are gods and don't attack us. Maybe so, but I don't think that is the case... I think they stay away because of either fear or they got something else easier or tastier to get.

Youngblood

[Jaybird]

THANKS LRMG for posting the news release.

Gray Wolves (or "Timber Wolves") once inhabitated all areas of these UNITED STATES....but, shortly after the EUROPEANS arrived on these shores...many animals, (& SPECIES) started to disappear due to overkilling & fear.

Hopefully after the RE-introduction of these beautiful animals...this wont happen again. EDUCATION! EDUCATION! EDUCATION! :D

[TakeABreak]

I think it is great to the are being re-introduced. It will also take some time for them to populate enough for them to a to be a bother to anyone. The Grey's have migrated over the ice on lake michigan from the upper to lower peninsula, although there have been sporadic sighting's for about ten years now, I have not heard of any being killed by ignorant people just to kill them. Scientist are skill trying to confirm that live in the lower peninsula, so hopefully they will live a quiet life in the northeast like here until they have a chance to repopulate.

[MOWGLI]

In a strange ironic twist, that particular wolf slaughter benefits all hikers greatly.

Trivia: Anyone know how?

OK, so Leopold kills a wolf, sees the "fierce green fire" disappear from the wolfs eye, and then comes up with the idea of "thinking like a mountain." It turns out to be a turning point in his life. He ends up working with the Wilderness Society, whose work inspires the Wilderness Act of 1964. Now hikers have deginated wilderness areas to roam in - in large part because of Aldo Leopold's work.

What do I win? ;)

[BlackCloud]

What do I win? ;)
A bite in the ass by a reintroduced wolf:rolleyes:

[Tha Wookie]

OK, so Leopold kills a wolf, sees the "fierce green fire" disappear from the wolfs eye, and then comes up with the idea of "thinking like a mountain." It turns out to be a turning point in his life. He ends up working with the Wilderness Society, whose work inspires the Wilderness Act of 1964. Now hikers have deginated wilderness areas to roam in - in large part because of Aldo Leopold's work.

What do I win? ;)
Congratulations! You are educated in Wilderness Preservation History!

I have just sent you a prize in the mail (hint: 27cent stamp)!

For everyone else, words from Aldo Leopold, from Sand County Almanac, published in 1948:

[....] We were eating lunch on a high rimrock, at the foot of which a turbulent river elbowed its way. We saw what we thought was a doe fording the torrent, her breast awash in white water. When she climbed the bank toward us and shook out her tail, we realized our error: it was a wolf. A half-dozen others, evidently grown pups, sprang from the willows and all joined in a welcoming melee of wagging tails and playful maulings. What was literally a pile of wolves writhed and tumbled in the center of an open flat at the foot of our rimrock.

In those days we had never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf. In a second we were pumping lead into the pack, but with more excitement than accuracy; how to aim a steep downhill shot is always confusing. When our rifles were empty, the old wolf was down, and a pup was dragging a leg into impassable side-rocks.

We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.

* * *

Since then I have lived to see state after state extirpate its wolves. I have watched the face of many a newly wolfless mountain, and seen the south-facing slopes wrinkle with a maze of new deer trails. I have seen every edible bush and seedling browsed, first to anaemic desuetude, and then to death. I have seen every edible tree defoliated to the height of a saddlehorn. Such a mountain looks as if someone had given God a new pruning shears, and forbidden Him all other exercise. In the end the starved bones of the hoped-for deer herd, dead of its own too-much, bleach with the bones of the dead sage, or molder under the high-lined junipers.


Read more about Aldo Leopold, one of the most important figures in American and World Wilderness preservation..... http://leopold.wilderness.net/aboutus/aldo.htm

[Mags]

Especially if they are hungry and looking for a meal. I get a little nervous when I hear a pack of coyotes howling around my campsite at night and will camp farther of the trails

Rather germane to this discusssion, it was not until that wolves disappeared from the East that the coyotes moved in.

If you read the journals of early explorers (Lewis, Clark, Pike, etc.) you will see their descriptions of this new creature called a "prarie wolf" aka the coyote.

Coyotes thrived where wolves can not. Interesting to see what will happen when the coyotes meet the wolves again. Suspect in some areas the coyotes will move to other areas.

[MOWGLI]

Mags, in Yellowstone, reintroduced wolveshave killed something like 60% of the coyote population. This has had a dramatic impact on the ecosystem. Wolves are a "keystone" species in Yellowstone. In other words, without wolves, the ecosystem starts to unravel.

With the reduction of the coyote population, rodent populations have soared - resulting in increased prey for birds of prey and smaller mammals like badgers. Wolf kills have also provided carcasses for Grizzlies, Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles. Within a few years of wolf reintroduction, biologists recorded Golden & Blad Eagles on the same kills for the first time in years. Likewise, they recorded Grizzlies with cubs on kills later in the season than had been seen in years. Elk populations are also more balanced, and the animals are dispersing in a more natural pattern - now that wolves are preying on them.

So... while some of the ranchers (and coyotes) may not like the wolves, most of the other wildlife in Yellowstone seems to be benefitting.

[Mags]

Ma Elk populations are also more balanced, and the animals are dispersing in a more natural pattern - now that wolves are preying on them.

So... while some of the ranchers (and coyotes) may not like the wolves, most of the other wildlife in Yellowstone seems to be benefitting.


A big debate here in Colorado is about reintroducing wolves to the Rocky Mtn NP area. The elk population is off the chart in the park! Vegetation is taking a beating from this huge elk population.


The overall conensus is, though, wolves are going to be back in the park at some point. Wolves have been spotted on rare occasions in northern Colorado. They are making their way down south. Suspect the balance will eventually be restored in RMNP, too.

The major issue, of course, is that the Front Range of the Rockies is more populated than the Yellowstone area.

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/08/03/news/regional/ddf88ad48ee488b08725704f0080f414.txt



A

[wolf of zen]

Thank you for all the positive posts in this thread, I'm always happy to see understanding about wolfkind.

[canoehead]

people often fear what they do not understand

[LuTotten]

There is a small pack in North Georgia, I have heard stories of them and the wildlife rehab center in ellijay got some half breeds one time (half wolf/half dog) don't think they were reintroduced though, just survived all the people somehow.

[Pennsylvania Rose]

My 13 yr old daughter just wrote this poem for school. She's really into wolves.

The Warrior
by Rhiannon

Running wild and free,
A warrior ruling over all he can see,
He rules just and true,
Under an endless sky of blue,
One day a noise split the air,
It makes him bristle every hair,
He must give his family time to run,
He knows they have brought a gun,
He takes off across the snow,
He gives his family a chance to go,
The chopper follows,
His heart beats hard and he swallows,
He tries to run but it is tough,
He knows he cannot go fast enough,
There is a loud bang, sharp and loud,
The world is devoid of sound,
The warrior feels pain and surprise,
He unwillingly lays down and dies,
His life was all he had to give,
For a chance that his family might live,
The killers land and cut off his ears,
They have killed the thing of their irrational fears,
They laugh in relief as if him dying was funny,
For his death they get paid money,
The family came and cried,
Their noble warrior had died,
They point their noses to the sky,
And let out a long sad cry,
They howl,
For their warrior,
Their protector,
The noble wolf.

[weary]

[QUOTE=BlackCloud]

Especially if they are hungry and looking for a meal. I get a little nervous when I hear a pack of coyotes howling around my campsite at night and will camp farther of the trails that they run at night when I hike where they are plentiful... I would be more nervous if I had kids along or a dog. I figure when they stop for a while, they are sizing me up as a possible meal... they sometimes take their time about leaving which gives me the impression they are at least considering it. Predator animals are great, unless you are their prey. I remember hiking a few years back in some park in southern California where childeren under a certain age where not allowed because they had experiences where cougars attacked and killed one or two young kids over a period of a couple of years. Some folks believe that predatory animals respect humans as if we are gods and don't attack us. Maybe so, but I don't think that is the case... I think they stay away because of either fear or they got something else easier or tastier to get.Youngblood
I am saddened by those with irrational fears of the natural outdoor world. It must be a terrible affliction to have to live with.

Weary