OLYMPIA - Re-introducing gray wolves to the Olympic National Park would be biologically feasible, according to a study released today. In fact, they would be "fat and happy," but the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service says more information is needed before a final decision is made.
The study, conducted by the University of Idaho under a Fish & Wildlife contract, also concludes that "such a proposal would face substantial social, cultural and management challenges."
The skeptics are already howling.
Dick Gates of Montesano, a hunter who is president of Citizens for Washington Wildlife, said this morning that there are enough predators in the park already.
"We are predators also, but we are the only controllable predators in the woods," said Gates, owner of Western Sports Unlimited in Montesano. "At a time when the deer and elk herds are on a decline in the park, we find it ridiculous to introduce another predator into the park right now."
The state Department of Fish & Wildlife is also concerned about the wolf impact on the elk population on the Olympic Peninsula.
"We feel that to even make considering re-introduction feasible you have to address elk issues first," said Fish & Wildlife regional wildlife manager Jack Smith at Montesano. "Elk are a primary prey species for wolves, and elk populations on the peninsula have dropped dramatically in the last 10 years."
The reasons for the decline are complex, said Smith, but one overriding factor is over-hunting.
"Clearly, there's too much adult mortality," Smith said. "You've got to say hunting is part of that, and the new factor in the last 10 years is the expansion of off-reservation tribal hunting. You add that to the state hunting that goes on and you've got too much. Another factor is a rapid expansion in cougar populations.
"In areas where there are wolves - Yellowstone for example - they're just now starting to document the impacts of a wolf population on cougars. How much it would affect cougars we don't know, but we do know it would affect the elk population."
The study predicts that the deer population would drop 13 to 16 percent and elk population 16 to 17 percent in the park if wolves were introduced.
Habitat
"One of the reasons we're concerned is that bear and cougar only kill to eat. Wolves kill to train their young," said Gates. "A cougar will kill an elk and bury it and come back to feed several times. Wolves will kill an elk and then move 100 yards down the canyon and kill another one. They're pack animals."
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spokesman Doug Zimmer said this morning that the study shows that wolves wouldn't be able to survive outside the ideal conditions of the park.
"There's not enough suitable habitat beyond the boundaries of the park to support them," said Zimmer. "You might have individual wolves come out, but you won't have packs come out, and all of the available research shows that wolves don't survive by themselves.
"The reality of wolves is that wolves avoid human contact," Zimmer said. "They're very shy animals. They've learned for hundreds of years to be shy of humans, because we systematically kill them."
Livestock at risk?
Gates responds that wolves released as part of a similar program in Idaho have been found hundreds of miles from their release points.
"These people keep telling us that they can put them on the peninsula and it's not going to be a threat to farms and such," said Gates, "but I'm told that a wolf that was released in Idaho was recently caught 110 miles into Oregon."
Zimmer confirmed that an Idaho wolf had been caught in Oregon after it apparently swam the Snake River, but reiterated that single wolves don't survive for long.
The study does, however, conclude that livestock and pets in human-inhabited areas near the park would be at significant risk.
"Wolves consider dogs competition, and they kill them," said Zimmer. "Wolves tend to eliminate other canine species in the same territory. For example, the grouse population would probably increase, because wolves don't fool with grouse, but coyotes do, and wolves will kill coyotes.
"People who live around the park would have to keep their dogs inside at night."
According to the study, wolves introduced to the park most likely would be designated as a "non-essential, experimental population," under section 10(j) of the endangered species act, meaning that no land-use restrictions would be imposed to protect them.
10(j) rule
Zimmer compares the proposed program to an existing red wolf reintroduction program in North Carolina.
"In North Carolina we have a 10(j) rule, and that allows farmers a lot more leeway to protect their livestock," said the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spokesman. "If you look out your window and see a wolf hanging around your sheep, you can get your rifle and run him off or shoot him. That's an example of how much flexibility in management there is under the 10(j) rule."
Any land-use restrictions would likely only happen around active "den sites," under a state regulation, and then only on Olympic National Park land. The study also says that the proposed wolf plan would not affect logging in the National Forest.
Gray wolves were once native to the Olympic Peninsula, but according to the federal report, the last reported sighting was in 1920, when a wolf was killed at the Elwha Drainage.
According to the report, University of Idaho researchers found that enough suitable habitat and prey exist in Olympic National Park and the adjacent National Forest lands to support a population of 50 or more gray wolves, but more study is needed to determine the long-term viability of such a population.
"The question we have is whether 56 animals is enough to maintain the genetic diversity you need for a healthy population," Zimmer said. "The wolves that live in the park would be very happy wolves, fat and happy and eating elk and deer. The question is whether there would be enough of them to sustain the diversity they need to survive for, say, a hundred years."
Roads
The Olympic National Park and surrounding National Forest area was chosen for the study because wolf reintroduction programs elsewhere have shown that wolves can only survive in areas where there aren't many people or roads. According to the study, research has shown that areas with more than 13 people per square mile, or more than one mile of road per square mile, aren't suited for wolf habitat.
The researchers say more information is needed on the numbers of deer and elk in the proposed habitat, as well as the numbers and types of other predator species living in the area, before a final decision can be made on the proposal to bring the wolves to the peninsula.
"Now we have a real clear set of facts that say, 'Yes it is feasible, here are some things that would happen, here is where we need more information,' " said Zimmer. "We have taken a real step forward here. The next step is up to the people and to Congress."
Gates is unimpressed.
"I'm a little cautious of the fact that they're doing this right now, because we're rounding into an election year," he said. "I'd advise the people who pay attention to these things to watch what happens next year after the elections."
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