From The Fence Post:
In 2020, Colorado voters narrowly approved the reintroduction of gray wolves, which will happen later this year. New research from Colorado State University’s Regional Economic Development Institute estimates that the benefits to those who voted “yes” will be about $115 million per year, more than 50 times the estimated government spending for ranchers experiencing losses due to predation.
Almost 90% of those benefits fall in the Front Range, where very few people will ever encounter a wolf, explained Dana Hoag, lead author of the study and agriculture and resource economics professor. On the other side, about 5.4% of those same benefits fall on the Western Slope, where almost all of the costs will occur.
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Mysterious canine sighting in Vestavia: Have the wolves returned?
From AL.com:
A Vestavia Hills resident’s Reddit post showing a video of a mysterious canine creature roaming free set online tongues wagging about whether it was a wolf, a wolfdog, a coyote or something else.
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Mummified Dogs in Ancient Egypt: Were They Pets, Sacrifices or Wolves?
From Haaretz:
Identifying the species or breeds of long-dead canines before the era of fashionable disfigurement in dogs can be difficult. Now a new technique finds some answers in the Saqqara necropolis of Egypt.
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Prized for genetics, red wolves growing up at LBL
From The News-Enterprise:
A cool wind gives the branches a consistent rustle, early sunlight filters through the overgrowth and four 1-year-olds come out to play.
Trace, Piney, Ginger and Sugar sniff and creep, chase off a large crow intent on invading their enclosure, race to the other side, hide behind a hill and cautiously peer out again, huddling together with their mom or dad.
The four red wolf pups, born last spring at the Land Between the Lakes’ Woodlands Nature Station, came as an unexpected and very valuable litter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Red Wolf Recovery Program.
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German farmers concerned about livestock amid rising wolf attacks
From Al Jazeera English:
Farmers in Germany are calling for stricter measures against wolves following an increase in attacks on their livestock. Wolves, protected under European Union law, have made a comeback in Western Europe after being extinct for more than a century.
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Working on the Wolf Beat as an agricultural journalist
From 9News.com:
WIGGINS, Colo. — Words are kind of Rachel Gabel’s thing.
She has been a writer since she was a kid. Years later, she is writing for kids–she’s penned four children’s books.
“I think I’ve always written,” Gabel said, as she read one of her books, “The Wooly Way,” to a group of fourth graders at Beaver Valley Elementary in Brush, CO. “I don’t remember a time when I haven’t written–I think the way I look at things, I can see the story that’s there.”
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Final approval to reintroduce wolves in the Western Slope
From Fox 21 News:
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — On Wednesday, May 3, the Parks and Wildlife Commission voted on the final approval for the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan meaning wolves will be reintroduced in the Western Slope by the end of this year.
“A really big deal for us, a milestone, kind of a monumental event,” Public Information Officer at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Travis Duncan, said. “It was the result, the culmination of more than two years of really extensive statewide stakeholder meetings and outreach with a series of public hearings and collecting feedback from folks from all over Colorado.”
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Balancing the economic wins, losses from the reintroduction of wolves
From The Fence Post:
In 2020, Colorado voters narrowly approved the reintroduction of gray wolves, which will happen later this year. New research from Colorado State University’s Regional Economic Development Institute estimates that the benefits to those who voted “yes” will be about $115 million per year, more than 50 times the estimated government spending for ranchers experiencing losses due to predation.
Almost 90% of those benefits fall in the Front Range, where very few people will ever encounter a wolf, explained Dana Hoag, lead author of the study and agriculture and resource economics professor. On the other side, about 5.4% of those same benefits fall on the Western Slope, where almost all of the costs will occur.
Click for the full story.
Wolf re-introduction plan includes Aspen, Roaring Fork region for likely releases
From The Aspen Times:
The Highway 82 corridor from Glenwood Springs to Aspen and the I-70 corridor between Glenwood Springs and Vail are likely to be the first areas where gray wolves are re-introduced to the state.
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Wolf plan approved but finding states to provide wolves may be difficult
From The Fence Post:
The Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan was unanimously approved by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission on May 3. The final approval inches CPW biologists closer to reintroducing wolves by the end of the year.
However, the states named in the plan that are potential sources of donor wolves may not be on board.
A spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Greg Lemon, said his state is not involved in any conversations with other states about moving wolves. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon told 9News he is opposed to sending wolves to Colorado.
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‘Trust the science’ on wolves, says Lauren Boebert
From DH News:
A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert would usurp the authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and delist the gray wolf as an endangered species.
H.R. 764, known as the “Trust the Science Act,” would reinstate a Trump-era rule that removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list. Wolves were first federally protected in the late 1960s, and the gray wolf itself was reclassified as its own endangered species in 1978.
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