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A fact sheet jointly prepared by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, October 23, 1998  1.
Are wolves native to the Olympic Peninsula?
Yes. There are many historical accounts,
including photographs, that document the presence of gray wolves on the
peninsula. At least two wolf specimens from the Olympic Peninsula (one
from the Elwha and one from the Hoh) are in the Smithsonian Institution's
natural history collections.
2. How many wolves were there? Although there are no reliable estimates
of historic wolf numbers on the peninsula, early settlers and explorers
reported that gray wolves were common in this area. Biologists believe
that one or more wolf packs may have lived in each major river drainage.
3. What kind of wolves lived here? Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were once
found across much of North America, including the Olympic Peninsula. The
subspecies that lived here was most likely nubilus. Populations of similar
wolves still live in British Columbia.
4. What happened to the peninsula's wolves? In the early 1900s, bounty systems for large predators systematically eliminated wolves from most of the lower 48 states. As in other areas around the country, early settlers and government agents eliminated wolves from the Peninsula through hunting, trapping and poisoning. A wolf trapped in the Elwha drainage on January 4, 1920 was the last documented wolf killed on the peninsula.
There have been no confirmed sightings
of wolves since the early part of this century. This issue will be further
explored during the feasibility study and any additional studies.
6. Do wolves live in packs? The gray wolf generally lives in packs of eight or fewer animals, consisting of a dominant male and female (known as the alpha pair) and their young of the preceding two or three years. The alpha male and female are usually the only breeding pair in the pack. In times of unusually high prey abundance, more than one female in the pack may breed. In times of low prey abundance, no pups may be produced. Packs can range over an area of 70 to 800
square miles, depending on the amount of prey available.
7. How big do wolves get? Adult wolves range in size from 70 to 120
pounds. Adult female wolves produce litters of five to six pups each spring.
Wolves generally live less than eight years in the wild, although some
reach ages of 13 years or more.
8. What do wolves eat?
9. Would wolves eat mountain goats? If restored to the Olympics, wolves would not be expected to have a significant effect on mountain goats. When frightened or threatened by predators, goats retreat to steep cliffs that are generally impassable to wolves. Studies elsewhere in North America where wolves and mountain goats, along with other prey species coexist, show that mountain goats are not a significant part of wolf diets.
Although wolves may attack livestock or pets, studies in Minnesota and Canada show that they prefer wild animals to domestic ones. In rangelands near Yellowstone National Park and in Idaho, where wolves have been reintroduced, the wolf population has been classified as "experimental and non-essential" under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act. Under this classification, a wolf caught in the act of killing livestock on private land may be killed. If there is evidence after the fact that a wolf has taken livestock, wildlife agents will trap and remove the offending animal. If it takes livestock a second time, the animal is permanently removed from the population -- either killed or relocated to a zoo or other facility. A non-profit organization, the Defenders
of Wildlife, has raised a $100,000 fund to compensate livestock owners
for any animals killed by wolves. Should wolves be restored to the Olympic
Peninsula, Defenders of Wildlife has pledged to make this fund available
for any wolf-caused livestock losses in this area.
11. Tell me more about the "10(j) rule". What would that mean here? In the case of possible wolf restoration
to the Olympic Peninsula, a proposed special rule under section 10(j) of
the Endangered Species Act would likely be prepared at the same time as
the draft EIS. This special 10(j) rule could list the proposed wolf population
as experimental and non-essential, allowing additional flexibility in managing
the wolves. Both the EA/EIS and proposed special 10(j) rule would be released
in draft form for public review and comment. In both cases public comment
would be reviewed and considered as part of developing the final version
of the documents.
12. Will wolves attack people? Like that of any wild animal, wolf behavior
can never be completely predicted. However, the history of interactions
between wolves and people in North America clearly indicates that the risk
to humans from wild wolves is practically nonexistent. Millions of
people recreate without incident in wolf habitat in Canada, Alaska, Minnesota,
Wisconsin and more recently, the Yellowstone area. There has never been
a documented case of a healthy wild wolf seriously injuring or killing
a human being in North America. In contrast, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention have documented a total of 301 human deaths from domestic
dog attacks in the United States during the years 1979 through 1996.
13. If wolves are restored to the Olympic Peninsula, how might they affect the area's deer and elk populations? Deer and elk coexisted with wolves prior
to wolf eradication; both prey and predator species were observed to be
abundant on the peninsula by early settlers. However, land use practices,
human settlement patterns and harvest pressure on deer and elk are all
different today than they were at the turn of the century. Additionally,
land use and wildlife management practices vary around the peninsula, as
do prey abundance, wildlife harvest levels and predation. Consequently,
the potential impact of wolf predation on large ungulate populations is
unclear, and will likely vary around the peninsula. These questions will
be researched as part of the feasibility and associated studies, and if
the process continues, the environmental impact statement.
14. If wolves were returned to the Peninsula, would they be seen or heard by people? Wolves are rarely seen by humans in most
circumstances. Their howling may be heard though, especially during winter
breeding and pup-rearing seasons. Wolves howl to locate and identify each
other, to sound alarms, to defend fresh kills, to advertise occupancy of
their territory and to avoid conflict with other packs.
15. Has a decision already been
made to release wolves in Olympic National Park?
16. What is happening now with the idea of wolf restoration? Congress authorized $300,000 for a feasibility study (including prey-base studies) and $50,000 for public outreach and opinion gathering in 1998. These efforts are being coordinated by an interdisciplinary group of managers from several federal and Washington state agencies, as well as area tribes and the Olympic Natural Resource Center. The agencies include the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. The feasibility study will investigate
a variety of topics related to possible wolf restoration. These include
the current and historic status of wolves on the peninsula, the suitability
of habitat for wolves, adequacy of the prey base, the socioeconomic impacts
of wolf restoration, and projections on the future of a potential wolf
population, (including possible impacts to human safety, as well as livestock,
pets). The feasibility study is being prepared by the University
of Idaho Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and will be released
in early 1999. Preliminary population studies on blacktail deer were
begun last winter in the Hoh and Elwha drainages, while aerial surveys
of Roosevelt elk were conducted last March. Public opinion gathering will
also begin this year.
17. What process must the government follow in considering wolf restoration to Olympic National Park? The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) directs government agencies to follow a series of prescribed steps before taking any action that may impact the quality of the human environment. The first step is to hold scoping meetings to determine what issues should be considered and to determine whether an Environmental Assessment (EA) or a more comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is needed. Once that determination is made, the draft
EA or EIS must be prepared and released for public review and comment.
After the final EA or EIS is completed, a final document, the Record of
Decision, would be prepared before any action could be taken. This type
of public input and decision-making process usually takes about three to
four years.
18. How did the idea for wolf restoration on the Olympic Peninsula first come up? In early 1997, Congressman Norm Dicks (of the 6th District of Washington, which includes the Olympic Peninsula), along with the non-profit group Defenders of Wildlife, advanced the idea of investigating the possibility of wolf restoration in Olympic National Park. In April of the same year, Representative Dicks and Defenders of Wildlife co-hosted a "wolf summit" in Port Angeles to explore the scientific and public interest perspectives of wolf restoration. Wolf restoration is in keeping with National
Park Service policy, which supports restoration of extirpated species where
feasible. Gray wolf restoration is listed as a long-term goal on Olympic
National Park's Resource Management Plan, but no work had been done on
it prior to 1997.
19. How will area tribes be involved in this process? Tribal representatives are part of the
interagency group working on possible gray wolf restoration. Their
participation is and will continue to be vital throughout the information-gathering
and decision-making process.
20. How can I be involved? Congress has directed the Olympic Natural Resource Center to conduct a public outreach and opinion gathering project in 1998. As plans for this project are finalized, information on public comment opportunities will be widely announced and publicized. If an EA or EIS is developed, the public will be asked to help identify issues that should be addressed in the document. (This issue identification process is known as "scoping".) Any EA or EIS process will also include a public comment period. Additionally, you are encouraged to contact
anyone from the following list at any point throughout the process.
For further information, contact: National Park Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service
U.S.D.A. Forest Service
Washington Department of
Fish & Wildlife
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