February, 2003

CONSERVATION NOTES

by Dave Johnson

     Wildlife issues are in the news this month. Lynx restoration in the southwest mountains of Colorado is proceeding well. The first four lynxes of this year’s contingent of 50 arrived in the state from Quebec in Late December. More lynx have since arrived from British Columbia and Manitoba. After arriving in Denver they are driven to a holding facility in southern Colorado where they will remain for three months. The Colorado Division of Wildlife plans to release them in the Weminuche Wilderness Area and the San Juan National Forest next April.

     The restoration plan calls for up to 180 lynx to be released over the next five years. Of the 96 lynx introduced in 1999 and 2000, over half are thought to remain in the state. They have established territories and found enough prey to survive, but reproduction has not been documented yet. It is thought that the numbers are too small for adequate mating opportunities.

     Unfortunately gray wolf restoration in the southern Rockies hasn’t even gotten off the ground. Currently, there are five separate areas in the lower 48 states that have self-sustaining wolf populations. Three are in the northern Rockies. Yellowstone Park and Central Idaho have had active wolf restoration projects since 1995, managed by the USFS. Northwestern Montana was colonized naturally by Canadian

wolves in the 1980s and breeding has occurred since 1986. Wolves have lived continuously in northeastern Minnesota. They have expanded in the last 20 years and current population estimates indicate 3000 wolves in Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

     The most recent restoration story is the introduction of Mexican gray wolves into eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. As of May, 2002, at least 17 wolves were living in the area and this number included at least seven breeding pairs.

     So why are no wolves being restored to Colorado? At this time the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has no plans to restore wolves anywhere in

Colorado. Yet Colorado has areas of prime wolf habitat, and historically, wolves roamed throughout the entire state. There is simply no good reason not to restore wolves in the southern Rockies. Wolves are simply not a threat to humans. The threat to livestock is minimal and easily compensated for, as the Defenders of Wildlife has demonstrated.

     Restoring wolves to the southern Rockies is ecologically sound. Wolves would restore natural predator-prey relationships. Wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and federal agencies are required to work on recovery plans in areas where suitable habitat exists—as it does in Colorado.

     Just as lynx belong in Colorado, so do wolves.

New Executive Director at Audubon of Colorado

     Dr. Gary Graham, formerly Director of the

Wildlife Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Agency, is the new Executive Director of AoC. The search committee was impressed with “his passion for conservation and his enthusiasm for working with Audubon volunteers."

EAGLE DAY

AT PUEBLO RESERVOIR

The 8th annual Eagle Day Festival will be celebrated on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Lake Pueblo State Park.

There will be eagle viewing all day, with many other activities scheduled at the Park headquarters building on the south shore.

At 8:30 two AVAS members will give tips for beginning birders. Kids can engage in crafts at 9:30, and at 10:30 “Snakes of Colorado” will be featured. At 11:30 and 3:30 the Air Force Academy’s live falcons will fly. At 2:30 is a live birds of prey presentation. Events are free but a Parks pass is recommended.