Sightline's wildlife index tracks gray wolves, which once ranged across most of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest before they were hunted to extinction. The west was wolfless until the mid-1990s, when small populations were re-introduced.

Geographic range: The Rocky Mountains in Montana (mainly Yellowstone National Park) and central Idaho. See an animated map of historic and current range for gray wolves.

What wolves tell us: Wolves are a cornerstone to their entire ecosystem--essential for maintaining balance. Their return to the Northwest signifies not only a return to wild-ness, but the beginning of a return to healthy and thriving natural systems.

How the wolves are doing: Wolf reintroduction has generally been a success story:

• Booming population: In just 10 years since reintroduction, wolf populations have boomed, and their range has expanded dramatically. Today, an estimated 850 wolves inhabit Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, far exceeding biologists' original expectations.
• Restoration: Wolves are helping restore native ecology. In Yellowstone, for example, streamside trees are growing back because elk and beavers now fear to linger by streams, where they make easy targets for wolves; and the increase tree-shaded streams has resulted in a rebound of native trout populations. Plants flourish, as do red foxes, beavers, and songbirds.

• The bad news: A recent shift in wolf management from federal to state level may make it easier to legally kill wolves.
  

What to do: Put more policies into place that protect wolves. Wolves will likely soon be returning to the more remote areas of Oregon and Washington. They should be welcomed back as the agents of ecological restoration that they are.

Check the wildlife section of the blog for more on wolves.

More resources

International Wolf Center

Defenders of Wildlife