As the famous conservationist biologist Aldo Leopold made the case for wolves in his classic, Thinking Like a Mountain, as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer. In Yellowstone, wolves introduced by the Fish and Wildlife Service have already made their mark on ecological processes, Ed Bangs said. By shifting the elk herds around, keeping them from loitering in one area too long like cattle, wolves have taken the browsing pressure off young aspen and willow sprouts and given them time to grow, he said. This has resulted in more nesting habitat for migrant songbirds. One way to strengthen, this though, would be to get this information from a Yellowstone expert perhaps a Park Service biologist.
Bangs has an agenda.
The scientific points he makes would carry more weight if they were actually made by an independent expert or at least if they were supported by such an expert. The Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes the ecological benefits of wolves, but the agency stops short of considering them imperative to the health of the southern Rockies ecosystem, Bangs said. Better to get this from the service itself. While the Service s scientific studies support Sinapu s claim that Colorado is prime wolf country from a biological standpoint, the Service sees intractable philosophical conflicts. Bangs said the stumbling block is the value system of ranchers, largely responsible for putting wolves on the endangered list to begin with.