Canyons and Wolves

Sand Canyon. Photo: Urjasi

Have you ever hiked through canyons in the moonlight? It's highly recommendable.

See this? Now imagine looking at this in the moonlight. The alien-mushroom-like rocks bathed in a pale moonlight, and silhouettes of leafless limbs of trees dancing in the dark. 

Now add the silence. Sprinkle some brilliant stars and oh - there goes a meteor with a fiery tail! And oh - that's a satellite - it's moving too slow for a shooting star. And yes! THAT is a shooting star!

Indian ruins. Photo: Urjasi

I was clambering around Sand Canyon with Steve on my birthday. It's part of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, with trails through sandstone canyons and ancient Indian ruins. The ruins are ancestral "puebloan" archaelogical sites. 

Pre-Puebloan people called "Basketmakers" had lived in this area around 1500 B.C. Primarily hunter-gatherers, they excelled in basket-making. By 750 A.D. they had set up square-roomed "pueblo" style villages, farmed and created pottery. At some point of time, perhaps because of dwindling natural resources, they migrated away. Eventually the Ute and Navajo people came into this area, followed by European settlers who set up farms and ranches.

Sand Canyon. Photo: Urjasi

There is a popular 6.5 miles trail (one way) that goes from Sand Canyon to McElmo Canyon.I followed Steve and didn't pay much attention to any trail map. But you can find trail maps and more information here.

Sand Canyon, moonlight and evening star. Photo: Steve White

Silhouette. Photo: Urjasi

At dusk we found a rock to lean against and watched the last of the colors of the setting sun. We watched the evening star come up. Steve reminded me that it's a planet [Yes, Steve, but evening star sounds more charming]. Over gummy candies we wondered if the morning star and evening star was one and the same. [Google confirmed that both names are for the planet Venus].

"Wolves are predatory creatures, programmed to kill when possible. They would kill even when they are not hungry." I don't remember how we got on to the topic of wolves. Steve's a cello playing biologist and has a wealth of knowledge to share about animals and bugs. 

Wolves are also a keystone species - a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment and play a critical role in maintaining the structure and health of an ecological community. What happens to them affects many other organisms in an ecosystem. In the recent years wolves have been constantly under the threat of being delisted from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the US.  Earlier this year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to remove all Endangered Species Act protections for most of the gray wolves across the United States.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service argues that gray wolves do not need protections offered under the ESA anymore because their population has sufficiently recovered and they are not at risk of being extinct now or in the future. Supporters of this proposition also argue that the places where the gray wolves currently roam, are already protected within national parks, like the Yellowstone.

Last year, on December 6th, the alpha female of Yellowstone’s Lamar Canyon pack, an iconic matriarch, was shot and killed, during a rare venture outside the park. The tracking collar she wore showed that she stayed inside the park 95% of the time.This is the same Yellowstone National Park where wolves were virtually wiped out in the 1920s and reintroduced in the ’90s. [Read more here].

The extinction of wolves in Yellowstone had profound impact on its overall ecosystem. Scientists found that lack of wolves led to a boom in elk population that grazed on young shoots of aspen, and as a result of that, the number of aspen trees declined. The willow population suffered too, causing a decline in the number of beavers in the park. Beavers matter to us - they build dams that keep rivers clean and keep them from drying up. A 2001 study (PDF) found that the moose population grew five times its normal size and demolished woody vegetation where birds nested. As a result, several bird species were eliminated as well. With wolves gone, coyotes preyed on pronghorn almost to the point extinction. Ultimately,  wolves protect fragile ecosystems against climate change. [10 Reasons We Need Wolves]

Restoration of wolves in Yellowstone cost about $30 million, but it brought in $35.5 million annual net benefit to the area surrounding the park.


Federal public hearings on wolf delisting have been underway at four locations, starting with Denver, CO on 19th November. Environmentalists argue that the decision to delist gray wolves is political, rather than being based on science, and may open doors for delisting other species.

The Defenders of Wildlife explain on their website why they are opposing the delisting proposal:

• Gray wolf recovery is not complete, and the decision could derail recovery efforts in some areas where it has barely begun — among them, Pacific Northwest, northern California, Colorado and Utah.
• Delisting would turn wolf management over to the states and the track record of that hasn't been great for other species.
• Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, where wolves have been delisted, are not managing wolves well, and are instead driving their population down.
• Other species, like the bald eagle, American alligator and the peregrine falcon were declared recovered and delisted only when they occupied a much larger portion of their former range and gray wolves deserve the same.

What does "recovery" mean for the authorities determined to delist gray wolves? Are they only looking at numbers in terms of their recovery, or do they consider the health and potential of the said population? How long would it take to list gray wolves back under the ESA if the need was to arise? Evidently, it takes a while for policies and protections to be finalized and implemented...

Supporters of delisting, such as filmmaker David Spady screened his documentary the same week of the public hearing in Colorado, focusing on the economic and safety concerns of rural communities and ranchers: "There are certain predators that don’t mix well with populated areas, and most of the lower 48 is populated... It’s not like the backwoods of Alaska or northern Canada. We’re populated.”

In the Colorado hearing, a 7 year old spoke up: “Will I ever see a wolf in Colorado? I oppose your plan because no one will ever see a wolf in Colorado and they will be extinct.”

The public commenting period has been extended to December 17. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service what you think about their proposal to delist wolves. Submit your comments online: http://www.defenders.org/national-wolf-emergency/lower-48-wolf-delisting-comments