Private donations give wolf program a boost

Last January, 29 wolves were released in those areas as part of a federal program to rebuild the wolf population in portions of the animal's historic range in the Rocky Mountains.

The program, however, appeared to be in trouble last July when Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), responding to outcry from local ranchers, introduced legislation to cut the wolf reintroduction budget by $200,000.

Private groups have stepped in to make up for the loss, allowing the wolf releases to continue on schedule. According to Suzanne Laverty, executive director of the Wolf Education and Research Fund, "This is one of the most publicly supported wildlife programs in the country."

Her group hopes to raise as much as $60,000 this year in a direct-mail campaign.

Singer Bonnie Raitt has also joined the cause, hosting a fund-raising reception for WERC after a concert in Boise, Idaho.

Donations have come in from all over the world, including England, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. But most of the donors are Americans. "We have a lot of members that are kids. One little 8-year-old sent in $2.25. She wants to be a wolf biologist when she grows up and she wants there to be some wolves still around then to study," said Laverty.

A machinist shop in New York gave $500, and a woman who is quitting smoking has promised $100 to the wolves for every month she remains nicotine-free. The average donation to WERC is $40, Laverty said.

Perhaps surprisingly, many donations have arrived from the western states--including Idaho and Montana--home to some of the staunchest opposition to wolf reintroduction.

Laverty said many people are hesitant, indeed a little uncomfortable, about giving more money to a government agency. And government officials, too, were befuddled when offered unsolicited cash from taxpayers. "'You want to do what?' they said to us," she said. "Everybody was confused about how to set it up, because nobody's ever done anything like this before."

In a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, government biologists in charge of the reintroduction make suggestions about what the money should be used for, but WERC's board of directors has the final say.

Laverty's group has so far donated $32,000 to the reintroducton program. This money has been used to purchase radio-collars to track the wolves, and will pay for helicopter services during the capture as well as aerial monitoring flights after the release.

A number of wolves have been radio-collared in northeast British Columbia and will be followed to locate their packs for capture later this month.

Ed Bangs, who runs the reintroduction program, says the agency hopes to collect 30 wolves from Canada on January 16. Half of them will be released directly into wilderness areas in central Idaho, and the remaining 15 will be placed temporarily in a holding pen in Yellowstone.

Bangs said the reintroduction program has remained on schedule, in large part due to these private donations.

This story written by Sarah McCormic for Outside Online