30 Years Of Yellowstone Wolves: Feds Released Them In 1995 Without Telling Wyoming

There was no advanced warning Jan. 12, 1995, when wolves were released in Yellowstone National Park, said then-Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer. 

At least a phone call would have been a “professional courtesy” on the part of then-U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, he said. 

“It was thrown in my lap. Babbitt never called me in advance,” Geringer told Cowboy State Daily. “He called me after he landed with the plane — the plane that had the wolves in it that came from Canada.”

Until then, Geringer’s office didn’t have a clue that the wolf releases were happening that day, he said. 

“Apparently, we didn’t have a good enough intelligence network to get a, ‘Hey, head’s up, he’s coming.’ All we got was, ‘Hey, he’s here,’” Geringer said. 

Good Biology, Bad Politics

Thirty years later, the reintegration of wolves into Yellowstone has been a resounding success, wildlife biologist Dan Stahler told Cowboy State Daily. 

“Wolves are resilient, and we’re seeing that in the consistency of our numbers here,” said Stahler, the senior wildlife biologist with the Yellowstone Wolf, Cougar and Elk Projects.

But Geringer maintains that the way Babbitt started the reintroduction was disingenuous and dismissive of Wyoming’s concerns and perspective. 

“The Babbitt approach was, ‘We decide at the federal level that we will reintroduce wolves, and to hell with Wyoming,’” he said.

The Vision Of Wolves’ Return

Wolves once thrived across North America. But during westward expansion, settlers, hunters and ranchers saw wolves as a threat and competition and killed wolves without restraint. 

Many wolves were shot, but it was trapping and poisoning that truly decimated them.

By the early 20^th century, wolves had all but disappeared from most of the Lower 48, including Yellowstone.

In fact, there were concerted efforts to hunt down and kill wolves in the national park. In the park superintendent’s 1915 annual report, it was noted that wolves were “a decided menace to the herds of elk, deer, mountain sheep and antelope” in Yellowstone. 

From then through about 1926, at least 136 wolves were killed in the park, reports the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

Decades later, perceptions started to shift, and by the late 1980s, there was serious talk about bringing wolves back. 

Advocates claimed that restoring the apex predators would re-balance the ecosystem. 

Opponents argued that wolves would just cause too much conflict with human interest, such as big game hunting and ranching, in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. 

The pro-wolf side won out. 

Babbitt, who was Interior secretary under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001, led the charge. 

In 1995, wolves were captured in British Columbia, Canada, and transported south, where they were released in Yellowstone. 

There were more wolves released in 1996 in Yellowstone and remote areas of central Idaho.

Wyoming Felt Left Out

From the get-go, the wolf reintroduction felt like a top-down mandate from Babbitt and the Clinton administration, with virtually no input from Wyoming, said Geringer and his then-director of policy, Mary Kay Hill. 

“What I remember was total frustration from our office,” Hill told Cowboy State Daily. 

“We take a lot of pride in Wyoming in how we manage our wildlife and how we manage our resources,” she said. “Against that backdrop, the feds announced plans to bring these wolves into Yellowstone National Park. And Wyoming has also been proud of that park and the care we’ve provided for that park, separate from the feds.”

Geringer said that Babbitt was a “demagogue” and wasn’t interested in negotiating with Wyoming, or anyone else who might be affected by the wolves. 

“My perspective starts from the point of view that Wyoming knows how to manage game better than anybody else, and that includes the federal government. 

As Hill and Geringer see it, Yellowstone was chosen as the first reintroduction site because it was under federal jurisdiction – leaving Wyoming essentially powerless in the matter. 

He (Babbitt) discovered that he had sole jurisdiction over federal lands, and we don’t. So he chose Yellowstone Park,” Geringer said. 

Babbitt also claimed that wolves wouldn’t leave Yellowstone, Geringer said. 

“He said ‘If any wolves get out of the park, we will take them back. There will never be a wolf that leaves the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park.’ Well, he just lied to us,” Geringer said. 

The political furor over wolves has ebbed and flowed ever since. 

Eventually, wolves were delisted from federal protection outside of Yellowstone. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department took over wolf management outside the park, along with its peer agencies in Montana and Idaho. 

Wolves Find New Home In Yellowstone

While political maneuvering and arguments over wolves swirled outside Yellowstone, within the park, wolves reestablished themselves, and their numbers grew, Stahler said. 

According to “unofficial end-of-year numbers” for 2024, there are 109 wolves in nine packs in Yellowstone, he said. 

He’s watched nearly the entire process unfold, having arrived to work in Yellowstone in April 1997. 

“When I showed up, we still had some wolves in pens,” he said. “I came in right after those reintroduction years.”

Elk had been the wolves’ primary prey in British Columbia. And there were plenty on the menu in Yellowstone. 

“In the early years, it was just ‘elk, elk, elk’ for the wolves,” he said. 

More recently, wolves – and other large predators such as mountain lions – have switched to eating more bison, Stahler said. 

Wolves typically can’t bring down a healthy, full-grown bison, he said. So they tend to target calves or old and sick animals whenever they can. Or, they’ll feast on the carcasses of Bison that died from other causes. 

Doubts Wolves Killed Elk Off

With increasing numbers of bison in the park, it logically follows that there will be more bison carcasses, or weaker animals to prey on, he said.

Stahler doubts the idea that there are fewer elk in Yellowstone because the wolves killed too many. 

Wolves typically don’t go after “prime age” cow elk for the same reason they won’t go after healthy adult bison, he said – the risk of getting injured or killed is too high. 

In August 2024, an apparently inexperienced young wolf in Yellowstone barely escaped getting stomped to death by a cow elk when it attempted a solo hunt. 

However, many prime-age cow elk were shot by hunters during late-season hunts near Gardiner, Montana, north of the park, Stahler said. 

Those hunts, which ended in 2009, likely diminished Yellowstone’s elk population, he said. 

Other factors, such as drought, have also come into play. And many elk have taken to wintering north of Yellowstone – which might be another reason why wolves have started switching to bison, he said. 

And wolves help keep bison and elk herds healthy by weeding out weak and sick animals, he said. 

As for the wolves themselves, they seem to have figured out that larger packs are better for success. Yellowstone wolves typically have short lives, about 3-4 years on average, he said. 

“It’s hard being a wolf in Yellowstone” because of the risk of being injured by large prey, fights with wolves from rival packs and other hazards, he said. 

One notable exception was Wolf 907F. She was nearly age 12 when she died on Christmas Day, from injuries she suffered in a fight with other wolves a few days before. 

Wyoming Prevails In The End

As frustrating as the reintroduction was from the perspective of the governor’s office, Wyoming eventually prevailed, Hill said. 

She also served as director of policy for Matt Mead, who was governor of Wyoming from 2011-2019. 

It was during that time that wolves were delisted outside the park, and Wyoming implemented its wolf management plan. That allows wolves to be hunted as trophy game animals during controlled seasons on lands adjacent to Yellowstone. 

In the rest of Wyoming, about 85% of the state, wolves are classified as predatory animals and may be shot on sight at any time of the year. 

Hill sees that as a culmination of years of pushing back against top-heavy federal policy. 

“You never quit working, you never quit trying to make a situation better. And that’s certainly what the state of Wyoming did,” she said. “That’s the benefit of living long enough to see the results when you just don’t give up.”

Geringer thinks that Wyoming’s wolf management policy is sound and realistic, and it takes into account that people are part of the ecosystem too. 

Initially, wolf reintroduction was “just based on a good feeling. ‘Aren’t those wolves neat, howling at the moon,’” Geringer said. 

Wolves Here To Stay

Inside Yellowstone, the future for wolves looks bright, Stahler said. 

And he thinks they’ve improved the park. 

“Wolves are a key part of this story. After 30 years, Yellowstone is a better place, a more wild place, and wolves are an important part of that,” he said. 

Wolves have proven to be a gold mine for the tourism and hospitality industries. They draw admirers from all over the world, which generates an estimated $80 million each year, Stahler said.

Outside of the park, hunting wolves is “controversial to some, and acceptable to others,” he said. 

Taking different perspectives into account will always be a part of wolf conservation, Stahler said.

“It still requires a lot of working together and compromise between people who have different views of this animal,” he said. 

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.