Saving the Aspens

[wyowill]

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/54574635-90/mountain-grazing-aspen-forest.html.csp

I am not a resident of UT but found this article interesting in this mornings paper. As I read through it I was struck by two things. One, there were no representatives from the sporstmen of UT in the discussion yet they talked about reducing the size of the elk herd and two, (with some relationship to number one) they mentioned wolves in the article with a reference to the improved health of the forests in Yellowstone. I would encourage the sportsmen of UT to stay on top of this one. We got wolves in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana and our ungulates are paying a horrific price for it. I can see the stretch beginning in their minds that the introduction of wolves in the Monroe area would be a great way to control those very animals that they all agree are damaging the aspen forests. It is the only small opening they need to get the discussion going. Wolves would devastate the elk herd and the next step would be that ranchers will remove their herds as they won't be able to sustain the losses the wolves would cause. Of course the wolves would be trained to just stay in this one area! Just be aware.

 

[slamdunk]

"Wolves aren't part of the Monroe Mountain discussion, but dogs are. The partners have discussed using more sheep dogs to startle and perhaps move elk more than they now move around the mountain."


Maybe i'm an idiot, but i don't spell gloom and doom with this article, as they are looking at alternatives to wolves to help with the issue.

 

[wyowill]

"O?Brien, who directs the trust's Utah forests program, compares the possibilities to the rebound of Yellowstone National Park?s Northern Range after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced wolves in the 1990s. One study, she noted, found that the youngest surviving cottonwood to have escaped elk browsing there dated to the 1920s: the last years before native wolves were eradicated in Yellowstone."

This is the foot in the door comment that I was referring to. Dogs and sheepherders probably aren't present in the winter months when the elk will be feeding on the trees in heavy snowfall. If you keep the USF&W out of the discussions all the better. Still, no representative in this discussion from ANY sportsmen's group. They are your elk and deer in the area. I have no plans to hunt UT at any time so I don't have any skin in the game.

 

[slamdunk]

Well I live in Idaho, so I fully understand the wolf issue.
I am from Utah and still guide hunters there every fall and am confident wolves will not be voluntarily introduced there for any reason. They are fully aware that they are in fact moving in from Idaho and Wyoming and are most definitely making plans for controlling them.