Despite a lack of funding from Congress to bring a second round of wolves from Canada to Idaho and to Yellowstone National Park, private contributions have come to the rescue of the reintroduction program.Ed Bangs, the coordinator of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf reintroduction program, has announced that three private organizations have given the Fish and Wildlife Service $40,000. The three groups are: Defenders of Wildlife, the Idaho Wolf Education and Research Center, and the Yellowstone Park Natural History Association. In addition, the British Columbia government is donating staff time. Last years' wolf transplant came from Alberta. This year the wolves are to come from British Columbia. Finally, the makers of the wolf tracking collars are giving the Service a 30% discount and a camera company has donated a truck to the National Park Service.
Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana) had tried to kill the program by cutting the wolf program appropriations by 40%. His cut passed the Senate committee in an unrecorded vote, and his cuts were later adopted by the House in the conference committee version of the Dept. of Interior appropriations bill.
The conference report on the Interior appropriations bill has since twice been rejected by the House, although not because of the reduction in the wolf program funds.
Burns' cuts and the continued deadlock in Congress threatened this winter's scheduled transplant of about 30 more wolves.
The government's plan for Yellowstone and the central Idaho wilderness is to bring 30 more wolves each year for a total of 5 years. Because of the great success of the wolves this year, Bangs said wolf recovlery has been speeded.
The salvation of this years' reintroduction plans "will save taxpayers millions of dollars", according to Bangs. He said that if wolves were not brought to America, reliance on natural dispersion from Canada would take much longer and cost more in the long run.
Anyone who wants to contribute to the Yellowstone Wolf Recovery can send a check made out to "Yellowstone Wolf Recovery Fund" in care of:
Yellowstone Association
PO Box 117
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
) 1995 Ralph Maughan
Not to be reprinted, archived, redistributed, etc., without permission.