Saving the Gray Wolves: The Journey to Endangered Species Protection - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the year 1973, the United States Congress passed a bill into law. The law only allowed a few numbers of hundred gray wolves out of Alaska and primarily in Minnesota and Michigan. The reason behind them being allowed only in those two states was being because they were considered to be endangered species. Come in 1978; the gray wolf was listed as an endangered species in the lower 48 American states. In 1987, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that the gray wolves be introduced to the Yellow National Park Ecosystem (Bruskotter, Toman, Enzler, and Schmidt, 941). All these implementations were targeting to balance the ecosystem. In Colorado, citizens have to vote and choose whether the pack of gray wolves should be introduced in the parks or not. For this, voting for the reintroduction of wolves would be quite a good idea, with reasons explained below.

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The first reason as to why the gray wolves pack should be reintroduced Colorado state, especially the Yellowstone National Park system, is because the law has a plan to help everyone. Although some people see that the Trump government is not caring for the rights of individuals, there is a backup plan to care for those who will be affected by the wolves. The government has set aside a budget to compensate those farmers in Colorado that the wolves might end up predating on their cattle. While the government cares about other wildlife in the forests and parks, it also has interests in the safety and benefits of its citizens (Bruskotter, Vaske and Schmidt, 119). So, voting for the reintroduction of the gray wolves is a good plan and not against the interests of the citizens

Another reason why it is fit to reintroduce the gray wolves in Colorado, especially the Yellowstone National Park, is to bring an ecological balance in the park. The number of species who were highly increasing their population will significantly reduce. Taking from the case in 1996, when the wolves were relocated to the park, the number of elks decreased in the park (Ripple and Beschta, 205). Scientifically, a vast population of elks in any tract seems to be a threat to the ecological balance in the environment where they live. When the wolves were introduced, they fed on them as prey, which reduced their population by a margin. The bears now could attack them when they are in fewer numbers and even eat their remains. The elks fed on the vegetation in the ecosystem, which deprived the cows and other cattle food for grazing on. Now the animals could comfortably thus allow them to grow and multiply. The noticeable reduction in the elk population by the endangered wolf's species reduced on the people of them consuming the waters by the banks, which initially seemed to bring an imbalance in the environment.

Reintroduction of the gray wolves in the Colorado parks will help reduce the number of coyote animals who are also top predators in the absence of wolves. Coyotes feed on the other animals in the park and the cattle of the citizens living around the parks. The coyotes attack the cattle in people's ranches and feed on them. Wolves will help in this by feeding on half of the population of coyotes, giving a good chance for other animals in the ecosystem to grow and survive. Small animals like squirrels and rodents will have the opportunity to grow since the gray wolves would have killed their greatest predator. Voting for the reintroduction of gray wolves will promote growth in the biodiversity in the parks of Colorado.

Conclusively, voting for the reinstatement of the wolves in the Yellowstone Park and other parks of Colorado is key to environmental conservation. The wolves will naturally bring a balance in the ecological set-up of the animals in the park, and it's surrounding. People having the contrary opinion of the reintroduction of gray wolves should consider this as a positive initiative by the government even though there are still some issues that have not yet been fixed. The reinstatement will help both human beings and animals in Colorado.

Works Cited

Bruskotter, Jeremy A., Vaske, Jerry J., & Schmidt, Robert H., Social and Cognitive Correlates of Utah Residents' Acceptance of the Lethal Control of Wolves. An International Journal on Human dimensions of wildlife. Volume 14, Issue 2. Pp. 119-132. (2009). https://doi.org/10.1080/10871200802712571

Bruskotter, Jeremy A., Toman, Eric, Enzler, Sherry A., & Schmidt, Robert H., Are Gray Wolves Endangered in the Northern Rocky Mountains? A Role for Social Science in Listing Determinations. Bioscience, Volume 60, Issue 11. Pp. 941-948. (2010). https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.11.10

Ripple, William J., & Beschta, Robert L., Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15 years after wolf reintroduction. Biological Conservation. Volume 145, Issue 1, pp. 205-213. (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.005