Sh. Fritts et al., THE RELATIONSHIP OF WOLF RECOVERY TO HABITAT CONSERVATION AND BIODIVERSITY IN THE NORTHWESTERN UNITED-STATES, Landscape and urban planning, 28(1), 1994, pp. 23-32
Gray wolves were systematically and fervently eliminated from the nort
hwestern United States between the mid-1800s and early 1900s. Wolves d
isappeared from lower elevations first and generally persisted longer
in more remote, mountainous areas. Preservation of large tracts of pub
lic land, primarily for commodity use, at the tum of the century, had
the unforeseen effect of allowing conditions for wolf recovery to occu
r later. Improving attitudes toward the species and the recovery of un
gulate prey populations from their tum of the century lows are the pro
ximate factors making wolf recovery possible in areas with vast public
lands. Planners for wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies identified
three areas for wolf recovery, northwestern Montana, central Idaho, an
d the Greater Yellowstone area, because they consisted primarily of na
tional parks, designated wilderness, and national forests. Those areas
had previously been designated as public lands largely because they w
ere too unproductive for agriculture; they consist in part of high ele
vation habitat that supports relatively few prey for wolves in winter.
So far, recolonizing wolves have settled in lower elevation habitats
where deer and elk are most abundant. Since private lands are most oft
en in these lower elevations, they may be more important to the recove
ry and maintenance of viable wolf populations than was earlier envisio
ned. The negative symbolic nature of the wolf was a major factor in it
s eradication and continues to be a major factor in considerations of
reintroduction and natural recolonization; the newer positive symbolic
nature of the animal will ultimately facilitate its return and contri
bute indirectly toward long-term conservation of wild spaces and biodi
versity in North America.