From NPR for Northern Colorado:
Wolves don’t just fascinate or intrigue Nathan Varley. They’re his livelihood.
Varley and his wife, Linda Thurston, run a wolf-watching business called Yellowstone Wolf Tracker. For 17 years they’ve helped hundreds of tourists glimpse and photograph the national park’s famous wolf packs. Customers also see bison, grizzly bears and other wildlife. But it’s the wolves that most tourists travel for—and pay specifically to see.
From Euractiv:
The proposal is not a complete surprise, given it arrives in the wake of the now infamous death of Ursula von der Leyen’s beloved pony ‘Dolly’ who died from a wolf attack in 2022.
It would seem that everyone agrees, that the apex predator has its place in the European ecosystem, but in the run-up to the European elections, is the wolf debate bait to get the farmer’s vote?
“Using the wolf as a kind of political pawn, in order to play the game of securing votes – the wolf is truly the victim in this, ” Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs for Humane Society International/Europe (HSI).
From Aspen Journalism:
Colorado state Rep. Tammy Story stepped into the world of gray wolves during last year’s legislative session when Western Slope lawmakers pushed forward Senate Bill 256, a bill potentially delaying wolf reintroduction if a federal plan was not finalized that would allow lethal control of wolves that preyed on livestock.
From BBC:
Wild dogs were a daily, or nightly, source of terror for people living in the principalities which formed ancient Wales until at least the 13th Century.
So it is perhaps little surprise these dogs, or more likely wolves, have formed a massive part of mythic and folklore values to this day, from place names to legends.
Dr Juliette Wood, Cardiff University’s Welsh folklore expert, is trying to unravel the mysteries in online lectures on behalf of The Folklore Society.
From The Daily News:
Watching the road ahead, he notices a line of tracks in the snow that lead from a dense stand of trees along a creek. The man stops the sled and as it idles, he leans over for a better view.
He’s found what he’s looking for — gray wolf tracks.
The man is wildlife technician, part of this year’s Michigan Department of Natural Resources survey of wolves in the Upper Peninsula.
From Wisconsin Public Radio:
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed a Republican bill that would have ordered state wildlife regulators to set a statewide population goal for wolves.
The legislation was introduced by Sen. Rob Stafsholt, R-New Richmond, and Rep. Chanz Green, R-Grand View, after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources nixed a population goal in an update of its wolf management plan.
From The Aspen Times:
Colorado state Rep. Tammy Story stepped into the world of gray wolves during last year’s legislative session when Western Slope lawmakers pushed forward Senate Bill 256, a bill potentially delaying wolf reintroduction if a federal plan was not finalized that would allow lethal control of wolves that preyed on livestock.
The bill was introduced less than a month before the end of the public comment period on the draft environmental impact statement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 10(j) Rule. That rule, implemented late last year, designated gray wolves a nonessential experimental species in the state, meaning they could be legally killed if they killed livestock. Wolf-reintroduction proponents thought SB 256 was redundant and an end run around the will of the voters.
From Times Union:
ALBANY — A new bill aimed at protecting wolves in New York proposes collecting more data from the hunters and trappers who could mistakenly kill the endangered animals when believe they are coyotes, which can be legally hunted.
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a sponsor of the legislation, noted that wolves are mistakenly killed despite being designated as an endangered and protected species under state and federal laws.
From Sky Hi News:
Colorado’s annual budget proposal, which largely prioritizes education and health care, also includes several proposals that are of specific interest to residents of the Western Slope. The budget, which is not yet finalized, includes funding for non-lethal wolf deterrence, water litigation and wildlife management.
The six-member Joint Budget Committee, which writes the state budget, settled on a $40.6 billion budget that would take effect July 1. Statewide highlights for the draft budget include full funding of the state’s k-12 education system for the first time since the Great Recession and pay bumps for state healthcare workers.
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