Hank Fisher - September 21, 2004
by Jessica Marks

     Amid flurries of snow and fields of frozen grass, Hank Fischer, environmentalist and National Wildlife Federation employee, led the Westies on a 2.1 million acre treasure hunt. Binoculars, scopes, a dark night and one early morning, "let us find the wolves." The adventure began as the group entered the North side of Yellowstone Park and found a six-point bull elk blocking the roadway. Later, the caravan was held up by a grizzly bear and watched as it ambled across the road. Two wolves, a black bear and her cubs made for the search finale.

     It took "almost 20 years before the project really got underway," but thanks to Fischer's dedication Yellowstone Park is now brimming with wolves and bears. According to Fischer, "grizzlies and wolves have way exceeded all quantitative recovery figures," including pack/den numbers, space occupancy and undercutting mortality rates. Yellowstone is the "perfect place for wolves," Fischer said, with its high prey base and available habitat. Much of this rehabilitation success can be accredited to the Defenders of Wildlife, a non-profit agency Fischer worked at for 25 years. When wolf reintroduction was first brought up, many cattle ranchers were vehemently opposed to the idea; they envisioned wolf takes severely reducing their livestock profits. Defenders' are presently using a program created and developed by Fischer that settled this controversy. Ranchers are compensated for monetary losses caused by wolf or grizzly kills; simultaneously, Defenders tries to implement preventative measures - such as electric fencing - to zap problems before they can even occur. In the years since the compensation program began, approximately $550,000 has been spent to cover losses due to wolves and grizzlies.

     Fisher believes wolf populations are now high enough to be removed from the Federal endangered species list and transferred to state agency management. In order to be delisted, the three involved states (Idaho, Montana and Wyoming) must write adequate state plans. At this point, the only delistment hold up seems to be Wyoming's state plan - "Montana has an excellent plan, and Idaho's is very good also." While Idaho and Montana plan to treat wolves as large game species, Wyoming is listing them as a predator species, which, said Fischer, "is not acceptable." Many environmental groups in the area are working against the plans, a seeming waste of resources. Delisting wolves, transferring power away form the Federal government and back to the state would show the local communities that they do indeed matter, "show people the reward at the end of the rainbow."

     Besides, "focus needs to be shifted away from the de-enlistment project," says Fischer and towards other areas, such as reconnecting Yellowstone's isolated population of grizzlies to other dens. The number one grizzly issue right now is making room for "one more large population in a big, core area" - an area like the Bitterroot wilderness. Instead of continuing to fight a battle we have already won, we should be taking a stand on other issues throughout the west - reinforcements and supplies are always needed.