The community manager and content contributor for MeatEater, Brody Henderson, recently authored an opinion piece on a movement aiming to introduce wolves into Colorado. Below are some of his words:
No matter which side of the debate you support, the management of wolves as game animals by state game agencies is a working solution for everyone-including wolves. Sustainable numbers of wolves can be maintained while still allowing for active control to minimize conflicts with livestock producers and hunters. In Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, where wolves have exceeded recovery goals, they are managed as game animals. The same policy should be implemented with recovered populations in the upper Midwest. We agree with The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s wolf position which states, “… individual states should manage wolves as they do every other species—elk, deer, bears, antelope, lions, etc…RMEF staunchly supports wolf management in the form of hunting and trapping, especially in undermanaged predator populations that have a more significant impact on elk and other wildlife. Biologists agree there is no science to refute the viability of managing wolves as with other species.” And hopefully, the descendants of those traveling outliers will eventually be managed in this manner.