Don't believe rumors that wolves have been reintroduced into Pennsylvania and New York forests
By Ben Moyer
I get to enjoy a pleasure that few people do -- I listen to wolves howl. Bordering a tract of public land where I often walk in the evening is a zoo of sorts. Captive in one big compound on top of a hill is a pack of wolves.
Sometimes I can get them going from afar with an imitation howl, or sometimes they start on their own for reasons known only to them. The sound is eerie, pure and wild, despite the high fence that encloses their small domain. Their howling adds spice to my hikes but there is little reason to believe it will ever be heard from free-roaming wolves in Pennsylvania.
Wolves are at the center of much controversy, rumor and misinformation today. Wolves of one sub-species or another once lived from Alaska to central Mexico, and across the whole northern hemisphere in Europe and Asia. Though still common in Alaska and throughout much of Canada, wolves were largely exterminated in the lower 48 states by early in the 20th century.
Today, wolves have been reintroduced into forested regions of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, and parts of the northern Rockies. Studies of wolf-prey relationships in the Yellowstone ecosystem in Wyoming indicate that wolves have helped restore degraded habitat and streams by reducing an overabundant population of elk. In other areas, particularly in northern Minnesota, wolves are blamed for the near elimination of moose and deer herds.
A federal judge ruled last August that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should extend the reintroduction program into Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and the Adirondack region of New York, but USFW may appeal the ruling on grounds that the public would not support wolf reintroduction, and also cites wide disagreement about exactly what kind of wild canids inhabited New England and New York in colonial times.
Some biologists believe that the animals early explorers and settlers encountered and wrote about were actually coyotes, the smaller red wolf, or a hybrid cross of the two. Neither is the state wildlife agency enthusiastic about wolf reintroduction. A statement on the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's Web site reads: "New York's DEC has a long and proud history of restoring native species when it is both biologically feasible and socially acceptable to do so. It is not clear that a wolf population could survive in New York given the abundance of highways and our large human population. Nor is it clear that having wolves in the woods of northern New York would be compatible with the interests of residents or the farmers that live on the periphery of that region. For these reasons, DEC does not believe that wolf restoration warrants serious consideration at this time."
Last week a rumor that 50 wolves had been released in New York's Adirondack Mountains was circulating in outdoor circles around Pennsylvania. But a spokesman for the New York DEC said no such introduction occurred, and that there are no immediate plans for a release.
The willingness to believe wolf release rumors may be linked to the present deer controversy in Pennsylvania. Some rural residents and hunters continue to insist that coyotes, wolves and even mountain lions have been introduced into the state to control deer populations.
Rumors were further fueled last month in Adams County (near Gettysburg) when someone shot a wolf that had attacked and killed a pet collie. Pennsylvania Game Commission officials determined that the wolf and another, which was captured, were escaped or illegally released captives of a private individual.
Wolves are big, opportunistic and efficient predators. Males can weigh more than 100 pounds and packs of two to eight wolves will occupy home ranges of 20 to 200 square miles, depending on the density of available prey. When juvenile wolves leave their natal pack to find new territory they may range more than 1,000 square miles (about the size of Westmoreland County). Even in northcentral Pennsylvania, there are few areas that could accommodate wolves without constant conflicts with residents, farmers and hunters.
As in New York, Pennsylvania wildlife officials are skeptical that wolf reintroduction is appropriate.
"Game Commission policy requires proposed species reintroductions to be appropriate and feasible," said Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management director. "We believe that any reintroduction program involving wolves or other large predators would be impractical and inappropriate given the population distribution and density of people in our state.
"We do not believe that there are any areas remote enough in our state where large predators could be reintroduced without setting up a conflict situation for people or other wildlife valued by people."
Pittsburg Post-Gazette
I get to enjoy a pleasure that few people do -- I listen to wolves howl. Bordering a tract of public land where I often walk in the evening is a zoo of sorts. Captive in one big compound on top of a hill is a pack of wolves.
Sometimes I can get them going from afar with an imitation howl, or sometimes they start on their own for reasons known only to them. The sound is eerie, pure and wild, despite the high fence that encloses their small domain. Their howling adds spice to my hikes but there is little reason to believe it will ever be heard from free-roaming wolves in Pennsylvania.
Wolves are at the center of much controversy, rumor and misinformation today. Wolves of one sub-species or another once lived from Alaska to central Mexico, and across the whole northern hemisphere in Europe and Asia. Though still common in Alaska and throughout much of Canada, wolves were largely exterminated in the lower 48 states by early in the 20th century.
Today, wolves have been reintroduced into forested regions of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, and parts of the northern Rockies. Studies of wolf-prey relationships in the Yellowstone ecosystem in Wyoming indicate that wolves have helped restore degraded habitat and streams by reducing an overabundant population of elk. In other areas, particularly in northern Minnesota, wolves are blamed for the near elimination of moose and deer herds.
A federal judge ruled last August that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should extend the reintroduction program into Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and the Adirondack region of New York, but USFW may appeal the ruling on grounds that the public would not support wolf reintroduction, and also cites wide disagreement about exactly what kind of wild canids inhabited New England and New York in colonial times.
Some biologists believe that the animals early explorers and settlers encountered and wrote about were actually coyotes, the smaller red wolf, or a hybrid cross of the two. Neither is the state wildlife agency enthusiastic about wolf reintroduction. A statement on the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's Web site reads: "New York's DEC has a long and proud history of restoring native species when it is both biologically feasible and socially acceptable to do so. It is not clear that a wolf population could survive in New York given the abundance of highways and our large human population. Nor is it clear that having wolves in the woods of northern New York would be compatible with the interests of residents or the farmers that live on the periphery of that region. For these reasons, DEC does not believe that wolf restoration warrants serious consideration at this time."
Last week a rumor that 50 wolves had been released in New York's Adirondack Mountains was circulating in outdoor circles around Pennsylvania. But a spokesman for the New York DEC said no such introduction occurred, and that there are no immediate plans for a release.
The willingness to believe wolf release rumors may be linked to the present deer controversy in Pennsylvania. Some rural residents and hunters continue to insist that coyotes, wolves and even mountain lions have been introduced into the state to control deer populations.
Rumors were further fueled last month in Adams County (near Gettysburg) when someone shot a wolf that had attacked and killed a pet collie. Pennsylvania Game Commission officials determined that the wolf and another, which was captured, were escaped or illegally released captives of a private individual.
Wolves are big, opportunistic and efficient predators. Males can weigh more than 100 pounds and packs of two to eight wolves will occupy home ranges of 20 to 200 square miles, depending on the density of available prey. When juvenile wolves leave their natal pack to find new territory they may range more than 1,000 square miles (about the size of Westmoreland County). Even in northcentral Pennsylvania, there are few areas that could accommodate wolves without constant conflicts with residents, farmers and hunters.
As in New York, Pennsylvania wildlife officials are skeptical that wolf reintroduction is appropriate.
"Game Commission policy requires proposed species reintroductions to be appropriate and feasible," said Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management director. "We believe that any reintroduction program involving wolves or other large predators would be impractical and inappropriate given the population distribution and density of people in our state.
"We do not believe that there are any areas remote enough in our state where large predators could be reintroduced without setting up a conflict situation for people or other wildlife valued by people."
posted by wolf saga at 12:14 PM
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