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For Immediate Release
Defenders Celebrates 'Wolf Awareness Week 2005'
Organization Calls on Educators, Zoos, and Others to Spread Word on Wolves
WASHINGTON -- National Wolf Awareness Week, October 16-22, is a time to dispel misconceptions about wolves and educate the public as to the important role these predators play in maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Wolves historically inhabited most of the lower 48 states, until government-sponsored bounty programs and unrestricted hunting killed almost all of them by the early 1900s. With the help of protections provided by the Endangered Species Act, the drive to bring wolves back from the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states has led to some gains in wolf populations. In recent years, wolves have made remarkable progress in the Greater Yellowstone, Northern Rockies, Great Lakes and Southwest regions. Suitable habitat remains for further wolf restoration opportunities in the Southern Rockies, California, Nevada, the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest.
"In the West, the Southwest, North Carolina and the Great Lakes states, the return of the wolf has been great news for those ecosystems and for local economies, with increases in wolf-related tourism," said Nina Fascione, vice president for field conservation at Defenders of Wildlife. "There are plenty of places in this country where wolves make sense as a part of wild places, and those places and the people that live near them stand to benefit."
Defenders helps pioneer the use of economic incentives to promote protection of the endangered species on private lands by managing The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Wolf Compensation Trust. The fund pays livestock owners for losses due to wolf predation. Defenders also implements proactive measures to prevent wolf-human conflict using The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Proactive Carnivore Conservation Fund. Monies from the fund are used for practical projects that help reduce conflict. In 2005, the organization established a Livestock Advisory Council of active ranchers, in order to refine these programs and make them more effective.
This year, several wins for wolf conservation prevented the federal government from lessening protections throughout the lower 48 states.
January 31, 2005 federal district court in Oregon blocked a Bush Administration effort to prematurely weaken protections for the gray wolf and restored federal protections for the species in the lower 48 states
January 31, 2005 - the federal district court in New Mexico dismissed a complaint filed by several cattle and ranching organizations attacking the Mexican wolf reintroduction program.
Two recent studies on the economic impacts of wolves on local communities have shown the benefits to ecotourism.
A survey commissioned by Defenders found that red wolf-related tourism in North Carolina could increase economic and job opportunities by attracting more tourists through ecotourism. The survey indicated that a proposed Red Wolf Center would generate as much as $1 million in gate receipts and food/gift purchases over a single summer season.
A study by Defenders, Reintroduction of the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) to the Southwestern United States: An economic perspective, finds that the reintroduction of the Mexican wolf to the Southwestern U.S. has generated average annual net benefits of $3.2 - $3.8 million for Arizona and New Mexico, and $13.2-$44.6 million across the U.S. as a whole.
In addition, data from research projects conducted since wolves were reintroduced in 1995 are reporting that wolves are providing positive effects on the entire ecosystem since their comeback. In the past year, researchers have documented that climate and hunting have had a larger impact on Yellowstone elk populations than wolves and that wolves have had a positive effect on other wildlife species in the region. Some biologists have even begun to explore the idea that wolves can buffer the effects of global warming on ecosystems where they are present.
As the benefits of wolves in appropriate ecosystems becomes clearer each year, Defenders of Wildlife is pleased to celebrate another successful Wolf Awareness Week.
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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 490,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues.
