Ranchers are concerned that wolf reintroduction will adversely affect the cattle and sheep ranching industries and make hunters’ ability to hunt elk more difficult. But I believe, as do many environmentalists, that their attitudes are shaped more by their politics and values than by scientific truth.

Wolves are apex predators and have positively affected the ecosystems in areas like Yellowstone where they have been reintroduced. By changing elk behavior, wolves have reduced overgrazing on river banks, which in turn has made areas more suitable for songbirds and beavers. Beavers, in turn, improve habitat for native fish and amphibians.

Wolves have reduced coyote populations, thereby potentially increasing the numbers of foxes and ground squirrels, which increase available food for birds of prey. Wolves do not routinely decimate herds of sheep or cows, and compensation is promised to ranchers who lose animals to wolf predation.

Also, concerning hunting, Americans are leaning more toward wildlife viewing than hunting. Hunting is on the decline, which might affect revenue for Parks and Wildlife, but opens up possibilities for recreation that is more ecologically in tune with modern life.

Wolves have been demonized for years in our society and were eradicated in Colorado in the 1940s. Now we have a chance to reexamine our relationship with wolves and perhaps get rid of some of the prejudices that we have held onto even though they may not have been true. I look forward to watching wolves in their natural habitat, and, if we are to believe the polls and the votes in favor of reintroduction, so do most Coloradans. Susan Permut

Monument