As background I have participated in studies on wolves, worked as a hunting guide in Montana, and lived for many years adjacent to Yellowstone NP where wolves were reintroduced in 1995 so have much familiarity with both wolf ecology as well as the specific landscapes that Clark mentions in his editorial.
Clark says wolves have "devastated" ranchers, as well as elk, deer, and other big game populations in Montana, Idaho and Wyomng. Perhaps Mr. Clark should go directly to the state wildlife agencies for his numbers. In 1992 according to the Montana Dept. of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, there were an estimated 89,000 elk in the state. Wolves were restored to Yellowstone and Central Idaho in 1995. From these transplants as well as natural recolonization wolves spread throughout Montana so by 2013 there were about 600 plus wolves in Montana. And today the "devastated" elk herd has nearly doubled to 150,000 animals.
In fact, out of 127 elk management units in Montana, 68 were "over objectives" meaning the wildlife agency considered the herds too large for the carrying capacity. Some 47 were meeting objectives, and only 12 were below objectives, and the reasons for a few areas not meeting objectives were not only due to wolves. For instance, in one well known instance of the southern Bitterroot Valley where elk numbers had declined, MDFWP readily admits it permitted hunters to kill too many cow elk which led to a depressed elk population. Wolves had nothing to do with the low elk recruitment.
Similar statistics are available for Idaho and Wyoming. In 2013 Wyoming elk hunters killed the second greatest number of elk in history, with the previous year, 2012 the highest kill ever recorded. Indeed, elk hunters had a 45% success rate, a slight decline from the 46% success in 2012. Apparently Wyoming hunters must be killing imaginary elk because according to Mr. Clark all those Wyoming wolves are "devastating" the Wyoming elk herds. Check out this video from the Wyoming Fish and Game bragging about the high hunter success rate in 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xd9MCIqePI
This is not to suggest that wolves and other predators don't occasionally cause big game numbers to decline, but such decline is typically in combination with other factors like habitat quality losses. For instance, in a well known instance, elk herds in the Lolo Pass area of Idaho have declined because of forest recovery after large wildfires earlier in the century that had previously created a lot favorable browse for elk. Due to fire suppression forests have replaced the shrubs that used to support larger elk populations. In essence elk numbers had to decline and were already well in decline in this area long before wolves recolonized it.
As for "devastation of the livestock industry, again perspective is needed. Sure wolves will occasionally kill livestock. But it's hardly "devastating" the livestock industry. I will again use Montana statistics since I am very familiar with the issue in that state. In 2013 documented wolf kills accounted for a total of 60 cattle out of a total state-wide population of 2.5 million cattle. To suggest that the loss of less than a hundred cattle across a huge state like Montana is devastating the livestock industry borders on hyperbole.Check out the statistics yourself at Montana Dept of Livestock web site. http://www.liv.mt.gov/LLB/lossdata_2013.mcpx Again similar small losses were reported in other states with wolves.
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