Who Is Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Reintroducing wolves into Colorado
By the time you read this, they may already be on their way. In 2020, Colorado voters very narrowly approved a measure to reintroduce gray wolves some eighty years after they were extirpated from the state. The state plans to bring in ten of the animals with another three dozen or so to follow building ultimately to a number of about 150 animals in the state. Colorado’s plan follows that of several other states who have moved to bring in the animals to help restore the ecosystems shattered by American policies of the past two centuries. While there are resident packs in nearby states of Wyoming and Montana, these wolves are coming from Oregon, no doubt because their familiarity with craft beer will aid in their adaptation to Colorado.
Wolf reintroduction has been a decades long process, working perhaps most famously at Yellowstone National Park, where the animals were reintroduced in 1995. The results have been remarkable. Reintroducing the apex predator greatly rehabilitated the park’s ecosystem, even sparking a rebound in prey species such as elk and beaver. Sara Dant recently joined me to tape an episode about her work with the environmental history of the West and wolves certainly came up. While the episode won’t release for a bit, I thought I’d share a clip here of our discussion over apex predators and the ecosystem:
Some opposed the Wyoming reintroduction. A recent study by Colorado State University showed that how attitudes towards reintroduction varied along social and cultural lines. Those attitudes have made their way to network television, recently appearing as a storyline in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone. Seemingly inevitably, a cadre of ranchers have filed complaints in federal court to stop the reintroduction. As reported by The Coloradan, the ranchers are actually using the National Environmental Policy Act in their argument, claiming that not enough studies have been done to warrant wolf reintroduction.
Of course, those arguments are disingenuous, since numbers of studies have been completed on wolves not only in Colorado but throughout the Rocky Mountain West. Neither can the concern over losses in income, since Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed in May the SB23-255 Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund, which will set aside $525,000 for losses caused by wolves. Folks, Colorado is introducing ten wolves. Those animals aren’t doing that number of damage.
I believe there is something larger at play here that goes back generations. With the obvious and well-documented benefits to the ecosystem, along with compensation for losses, ranchers don’t have a real argument other than they just don’t want the animals. And I think that’s both cultural and political. Culturally, we can trace settler disdain for wolves from the experiences of their European ancestors who handed down their attitudes from generation to generation. Politically, ranchers—overwhelmingly conservative—seem to be at odds with wolf reintroduction for no real reason other than liberals favor it. It’s become an identity issue and one I think liberals missed the boat on.
Unfortunately the debates over gun rights seem to have split many people who enjoy the outdoors. Sara and I talk about this in the pod, but essentially into the 70s public lands conservation enjoyed bipartisan support in the United States. However, the debate over gun control alienated many hunters and fishermen (by far the most ardent of wildlife conservationists in the country). And while many of those sportsmen trekked to the political right, numbers of conservative politicians actually worked to undermine the ability to hunt and fish in the United States by attempting to sell off our public lands. In 2017, then-Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz attempted to transfer 3 million acres from federal to state ownership, which could then be sold into private hands, disallowing the people from their lands. Chaffetz’s efforts were actually beaten back into submission because of outcry by hunters and fishermen, led by in part by Steven Rinella of Meateater fame.1 However, Utah Senator Mike Lee in 2022 attempted to revise Chaffetz’s plan under the guise of creating more affordable housing on the newly acquired acreage. I think ultimately people interested in ecosystem conservation have to do a better job of courting outdoors sportsmen and sportswomen to their cause. But since the dividing point seems to be guns, I have no idea how this will be accomplished. There is, of all places, a case for this in Florida, where socially conservative residents veer hard left on issues of water quality and species protection.2
In the meantime, there appears to be no ease of tensions over the reintroduction of wolves into Colorado. But I’ll report in as I can. Who knows? Maybe the grizzly bear is next.
If you’re looking to learn more about wolves in the United States, I’d suggest Rick McIntyre’s Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series. It’s an absolutely fascinating read and something I have not been able to take my eyes off of. There are several books in the series but start at the beginning with The Rise of Wolf 8.
Andre Braugher
As I was sitting to write this, news broke of the loss of Andre Braugher. I think a lot of us loved his work; you knew when he appeared onscreen that you were in for a performance. For whatever reason, we had actually scheduled to record a podcast on Glory tomorrow. He was phenomenal as Thomas Searles. I’m sure we will feel the weight of his loss. And while he was known primarily for drama, it is his Captain Raymond Holt from the tv show Brooklyn Nine-Nine that I enjoyed most. Maybe it was playing against character, or maybe it was just him being amazing. I dunno. Anyway, my favorite clip is of him discussing the use of the word “doctor” in a professional setting. Enjoy.
HATM Podcast
On Thursday we’ll be releasing our latest podcast featuring Kate Jewell and the film High Fidelity. But until then, you can still check out Godzilla Minus One or some of the latest episodes, including The Last Duel or The American President.
Hey, I hope you’re doing well today. Thanks for being here.
-JWH
If your’re not reading, watching, or listening to Meateater, you are absolutely missing out. In my mind there is no group doing more to educate the public on the wise use of the outdoors. Rinella is an absolute hero of mine, and through him I was introduced to historians such as Sara Dant and Dan Flores.
This has not stopped Floridians from acting like Florida Men, as some lawmakers want to pass a stand your ground law for bears. Bears.