Yellowstone Wolves Worth $35 Million.
In 2006, the University of Montana released a unique study where they measured the economic impact the wolves of Yellowstone have on the surrounding economy. The study disproves decades of anti-wolf arguments brought by local ranchers and gives economic and environmental advocates even more to back them up.
The study, prepared for the Yellowstone Parks Foundation, was conducted over a period of 5 years and found that the wolves of Yellowstone bring $35 million in tourism to the region every year.
Nearly 4 million tourists flock to Yellowstone every year and this study found that many are coming to see wolves in particular. When asked what animals people came to Yellowstone to see, wolves were the second most frequent answer just behind grizzly bears. Not only that, researchers point out that wolves rarely finish a meal so the scraps they leave behind are eaten by coyotes, eagles, hawks, and other scavenger animals. These animals are not only important to diverse and healthy ecosystems but are the foundation of a unique and exciting environment for tourists.
By far the most vocal anti-wolf group is ranchers who claim that wolves who attack and kill their livestock are a serious threat to their business. It is true that wolves kill farmed animals but the damage is in no way worthy of the noise ranchers are making. The study found that damage to the ranching industry totaled $1,700 to $63,000 a year depending on the number of wolves in the region.
This study blows the anti-wolf ranchers wimpy argument out of the water. Why should Yellowstone kill wolves when they bring $35 million to the region whereas the entire ranching industry may lose a few thousand dollars in total? It feels like we can come up with a solution to this problem that doesn’t involve killing wolves and allows ranchers to be compensated or purchase taller fences.
Sounds to me that if Yellowstone ranchers really wanted to make some money, they’d ditch the ranch and try to get their hands on part of that $35 million a year by selling porcelain wolf trinkets to tourists.
