Why must Utah be kept free of wolves?
Minnesotans have lived peacefully with 3,000 gray wolves for decades, so why can’t we do it here in Utah? The recovery area for the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies is larger than the state of Texas, encompassing all of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, plus the eastern thirds of Washington and Oregon and the part of Utah bounded by I-80 and I-84. Within this vast area there were an estimated 1,650 wolves at the end of 2009 — the same number as the previous year. Presently there are no known wolves in Utah. The group Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife aims to keep it that way. Substitute Senate Bill 36 will require the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to “manage wolves to prevent the establishment of a viable pack” from forming within the Utah portion of the gray wolf recovery area. This would effectively result in the removal of any wolves found within the area, either by translocation or by lethal means. Significantly, this part of Utah is the portal through which wolves have been migrat
