May IAK special issue - 42

" Mr. Turner, please don't put us back on the
road. We haven't seen our families; we've been
abused. " I said, " Ed, we're going to do more
hearings. " He said, " Yes sir, if that's what it
takes. " I still think those guys deserve some
kind of award.
Mills: So once the process was laid into motion
things happened really fast. I mean recovery
happened quite quickly.
Turner: Agency biologists predicted it might
take 12 years for wolves to reach the desired
numbers and breeding pairs for a sustainable
population, but those rascals hit the targets in
three years. The prey base and the conditions
were so benevolent. The plan was once they
hit the target management would revert to
the states. There's a lot of people who aren't
aware that the states own the wildlife except for
within the boundary of Yellowstone. That's the
way we had envisioned it and unfortunately a
lot of the environmental groups that cheered
us on wanted to move the goalposts, went to
court and didn't stand by their early pledges.
I resent that. But the Wyoming Game and
Fish Department, with what they're doing
now, are meeting that commitment with good
research, good management, trying to address
when wolves have an impact on private lands,
ranchers, wool growers, cattlemen or they start
hitting our game herds pretty heavily. You've
got a tough job.
A picture of John Turner at the Triangle X Ranch in Teton County. (Photo by LuRay Parker/WGFD)
to meet this national interest. I wanted a way
where the states have a stake and a say and
have a management role.
I remember we had hearings throughout
the three states. People like Ed Bangs, wolf
project recovery leader for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, and others went for weeks and
weeks around the West holding public hearings.
They got their tires punctured, were spit
on and avoided potential fist fights all because
of the passion about wolves. I remember the
secretary of the Department of Interior called
me and said, " John, you've had a lot of hearings,
but not enough. " I said, " Mr. Secretary,
we've done 200 or 300 meetings. " He said
it wasn't enough. I called Bangs and he said,
42 | May 2022
Mills: Through time I think as an agency we've
been able to build a lot of public tolerance for
wolves in northwest Wyoming by dealing with
the conflicts and complications that arise from
having wolves on the landscape.
Turner: Well, I think you and your colleagues
have done such an outstanding job. It's a species
that can cause a lot of impact, and there
are those in the public sphere that want them
listed forever. It's really a success story under the
Endangered Species Act. We ought to celebrate
that. It's neat to have them back as part of this
great ecosystem, a place we all call home. But
it's not an easy one, and it is appropriate they
are under state management now.
Mills: No, it's not easy. But just because they're
inconvenient doesn't mean they're less valuable,
either. There's a balance. As you work
with wolves in a multiuse, human-dominated
environment you care about the species but you
also care about the humans that are impacted.
May IAK special issue

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