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Tay SO; 2a COMPLETED Ecological Issues on Reintroducing Wolves Into Yellowstone National Park Scientific Monograph NPS/NRYELL/NRSM-93/22 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service The National Park Service publishes scientific studies of significant natural re sources in unite of the National Park System This research is of scholarqluayl . ity and may include any discipline of the biological, physical, of social sciences Editorial Staff Fish and Wildlife Service Paul A. Opler Managing Editor Paul A. Vohs Subject Editor National Park Service Donna L. O'Leary Publications Coordinator Jerry D. Cox Technical Editor Martha W Nichols Editorial Assistant Cover photo: Gray wolf (Canis lupus). Photo by Alan and Sandy Carey. Copies of this report are available from the Publications Coordinator, National Park Service, Natural Resources Publication Office, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225-0287. ISSN 0363-0722 Ecological Issues on Reintroducing Wolves Into Yellowstone National Park Editor Robert S. Cook Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology College of Forestry and Natural Resources Colorado Siate University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 Scientific Monograph NPS/NRYELL/NRSM-93/22 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service * 1993« | * Frontispiece. A gray wolf (Canis /upus) gnaws on a moose (Alces alces) antler. Photo by Alan and Sandy Carey Contents Page PUNE occ cccccccvcccvcvcvcececcecseceseeeeceeeeceeens iv 226 6eeeeneeneseusseensaneessassasesennnnuensennnts Vv PEs cocverceveveceevececeecovecesscceueseeuseeeress vii Reintroductions and Translocations of Wolves in North America. hea» ccereeeeeeeaceerresseeeseeseneeesesces l Possible Effects of a Restored Gray Wolf Population on Grizzly Bears in the Greater Yellowstone Area. Christopher Servheen ED Cy cccovevecsesereceeueesusseenneces 28 Distribution of Beaver in Yellowstone National Park, 1988-1989. Susan Consolo Murphy and Donay D. Hanson ............. 38 Using Pop-II Models to Predict Effects of Wolf Predation and Hunter Harvests on Elk, Mule Deer, and Moose on the Northern Range. John A. Mack and Francis J. Singer ....... 49 Potential Ungulate Prey for Gray Wolves. Francis J. Singer ID GUE 6 60.0:0:600000000000000000000000000000008 75 Estimating the Relations Between Hunter Harvest and Gray Wolf Predation on the Gallatin, Montana, and Sand Creek, Idaho, Elk Populations. David J. Vales and James M. Peek ......... 118 Controlling Wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Area. ED Us 6 660006064 0006000045000CH0E8 08c8O008e 8 173 Predicting the Consequences of Wolf Recovery to Ungulates in Yellowstone National Park. Mark S. Boyce..............0.. 234 Population Models for Elk, Mule Deer, and Moose on Yellowstone's Northern Winter Range. John A. Mack and Francis J. Singer ....6606 0.c0c0s 270 Effects of Restoring Wolves on Yellowstone Area Big Game and Grizzly Bears: Opinions of Scientists. David W. Lime, Barbara Koth, and James C. Vlaming ...........06 0060004. 306 IV Preface Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, but harvest of its big game unimals continued through the 1880's. Thousands of elk (Cervus elaphus), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), deer (Odocoileus spp.), ante- lope (Antilocapra americana), moose (Alces alces), and bison (Bison bison) were killed for their meat, tongues, and hides. Their carcasses were strychnine-poisoned to kill coyotes (Canis latrans), wolves (Canis lupus), and wolverines (Gulo gulo). In 1886, the U.S. Army was assigned to guard and protect Yellowstone's features and wildlife, but there was still pres- sure to control predators. In 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law to eliminate predatory ani- mals from all public lands, including national parks. By 1922, some people questioned the destruction of wolves in Yellowstone, but from 1914 to 1926, more than 100 wolves were killed in the park. Wolf pack activity was eliminated and has not been confirmed since the 1930's. About the same time, more than 100 mountain lions (Felis concolor) and more than 4,000 coyotes were killed in Yellowstone. By 1933, National Park Service policy stated that “no native predator shall be destroyed on account of its normal utilization of any other park animal” and that “no management measure or other interference with bi- otic relationships shall be undertaken prior to a properly conducted inves- tigation.” Yet jredator control continued in Yellowstone National Park through the 1934—35 winter. Predators still were controlled outside park boundaries with cyanide “coyote getters” and Compound 1080 baits until stopped by an executive order in the early 1970's. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 recognized that economic growth and development may endanger some fish, wildlife, and plants. The act provides for conserving endangered and threatened species and the ecosystems on which they depend and states “[It is] the policy of Con- gress that all Federal departments and agencies shall seek to conserve endangered species and threatened species.” The gray wolf is listed as endangered in the contiguous 48 states except Minnesota, where it is listed as threatened. Under provisions of the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service produced a Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan in 1980. A revised plan was approved on 3 August 1987. The plan offered strategies for conserving gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. Three areas were considered appropriate for wolf recovery: northwestern Montana, central Idaho, and the Greater Yellowstone area. The plan projected that wolves would natu- rally colonize the first two areas. In fact, a small wolf population did colonize an area of northwestern Montana during the 1980's, and wolf activity has been reported in central Idaho. The 1987 wolf recovery plan recommended reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone because natural recolonization seemed unlikely. In 1987, Vv Congressman Wayne Owens (Utah) introduced H.R, 3378 “to require the National Park Service to reintroduce wolves into Yellowstone National Park.” In 1989, Congressman Wayne Owens introduced H.R. 2786 “to provide for a timely analysis [Environmental Impact Statement] of all factors relating to the restoration of gray wolves to Yellowstone” and established a timetable for selecting and implementing the preferred alter- native. Separate from provisions in the Endangered Species Act, Senator James McClure (Idaho) introduced §. 2674 in 1990 to reestablish wolves in Yellowstone National Park and the central Idaho wilderness areas, Other congressional members expressed strong opposition to wolf reintroduction. Because of the controversy over wolf restoration, in 1988 the Senate- House Interior Appropriations Conference Committee allotted $200,000 to the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study five questions and issues involving wolf restoration in the Greater Yellowstone area: 1. The issue of whether wolves would or would not be controlled either in or outside the park; 2. How would a reintroduced population of wolves affect the prey base in Yellowstone National Park and big game hunting in areas surrounding the park; 3. Would a reintroduced population of wolves harm or benefit grizzly bears ir the vicinity of the park; 4. The issue of clarification and delineation of wolf management zone boundaries for reintroduction; and 5. An experienced wolf coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice will oversee the program in full cooperation with the National Park Service (see H.R. Report 862, 100th Congress, 2nd Session, 1988, pages 14-15). Steven H. Fritts was appointed Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Re- covery Coordinator, Montana-Wyoming Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wild- life Service. His appointment fulfilled the item 5 requirement. The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used three approaches to answer items 1-4: extensive literature surveys; consultation and compilation of opinions from 15 North American experts on wolves, bears, and ungulates (Delphi technique), as well as consultation with Eurasian wolf or bear scientists; and development of predator—prey simulation models. Wildlife agencies from Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming provided data for many of the chapters in this monograph. The findings from the collected data are presented in this monograph. The conclusions and opinions presented in these chapters are those of the authors and Delphi panelists. The authors were asked to evaluate the potential effects of wolf recovery in Yellowstone in relation to the four items. They were not asked to evaluate the desirability of wolf recovery in Yellowstone. vi Some questions remained, and funding to study these questions was appropriated in 1990. Some questions may never be definitively answered unless wolves are experimentally restored and studied in Yellowstone. Study Area The Greater Yellowstone area is composed of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks (including the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Park- way), six national forests (Gallatin, Custer, Shoshone, Bridger—Teton, Targhee, and Beaverhead), and state and private lands. Federal agencies administer 69% of this land. Private individuals, Indian tribes, and state agencies control 24, 4, and 3% of the land, respectively. The Greater Yellowstone area is located in northwestern Wyoming, south-central Mon- tana, and southeastern Idaho. Yellowstone National Park and other federal, state, and private lands immediately adjacent to the parx (about half of the Greater Yellowstone area) were the primary study areas. Glaciated, quaternary-volcanic deposits cover most of the 8,995-km? area in Yellowstone National Park. Elevations range from 1,500 m to above 3,300 m. Between 2,100 m and 2,600 m elevation, forested rhyolite plateaus are dominant in central portions of the park. The park has long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Most precipitation falls as snow and ranges from 26 cm in Gardiner, Montana (north entrance), to 205 cm in the southwestern portion of the park. Average temperatures range from —12°C in January to 13°C in July, with extremes ranging from —54° to 37°C. Approximately 80% of the park is forested. Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) dominates about 80% of the forested area and occurs between 2,300 and 2,600 m. Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) compose about 9% of the forested area and occur above 2,600 m. Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) can be a major compo- nent of most of the spruce—fir zone. Nonforest plant communities occur throughout the park. Yellowstone National Park’s northern winter range sustains the larg- est concentration of ungulates in the Greater Yellowstone area. The 100,000-ha winter range extends northwestward from the Lamar and Gardiner river drainages (within the park) and along the Yellowstone River to Dome Mountain (outside the park). Eighty-three percent of the winter range lies within the park and 17% lies within the Gallatin National For- est and private lands. Elevations of the northern winter range are lower (1,500 to 2,400 m) than those in the park interior. The northern range is warmer and drier than the rest of the park, having less than 75 cm total precipitation. Average precipitation increases with elevation, ranging from 26 cm near Gardiner, Montana, to 55 cm near the higher-elevation Lamar Ranger Station. Vii The region is steppe or shrub steppe, consisting of grassland or sage- brush (Artemisia spp.) grassland communities. Conifers, primarily Dou- glas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), occur as scattered individuals or in small stands at higher elevations on north slopes. Conifers and aspen are dominant in about 41 and 2% of the northern range, respectively. Riparian shrub areas compose about 0.4% of the northern range. JOHN Mack NorMAN BisHop YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PArK Vill