A congressional letter-writing campaign exerted enough pressure on the National Park Service to force the agency to discontinue a public education program on wolf reintroduction.
Sen. Malcolm Wallop, R-Wyo., called the education effort "simply outrageous" and asked the Park Service to discontinue it, according to the Casper Star-Tribune's Washington reporter."In perusing these materials, the so-called `wolf pack,' I sensed a bias in favor of introducing the wolf into Yellowstone National Park," the Republican said in a May 12 letter to Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan.
"I demand that the (Interior) Department disavow itself of these lobbying efforts," Wallop said.
Similar criticism came from Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and Rep. Pat Williams, D-Mont. In addition, Sen. Al Simpson, R-Wyo., and Rep. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., wrote to Park Service Director James Ridenour last spring and summer to ask about the educational program.
Conservationists and Park Service biologists said the return of the wolf would help balance the Yellowstone ecosystem by restoring the only major predator that is missing.
But some hunting interests said the wolf would deplete big game herds in the area, and ranchers said the wolves would stray beyond the park and prey on domestic livestock.