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In the article “Feds want grizzly bears back in the North Cascades” [Climate Lab, March 21], the reporter perpetuates a now-debunked hypothesis about the effect of reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park. In a landmark 20-year study published earlier this year, the impacts of the reintroduction of gray wolves, cougars, and grizzlies unequivocally “…failed to restore riparian plant communities on Yellowstone’s northern range.”
The authors of this study summarize it best: “Claims of ecosystem restoration resulting from a trophic cascade following the restoration of the gray wolf to Yellowstone have been used to justify translocation of wolves to their unoccupied, former range in many areas of the world. Careful scrutiny has revealed these claims to be exaggerated or false.”
The trophic time machine claim continues to be weaponized in apex predator marketing efforts, contrary to the science and at the expense of ungulate populations.
In Washington, the science matters, except when it applies to bears and the WDFW commission Gov. Jay Inslee appointed. In speaking about climate science, he has tweeted that “The science matters, even though it’s taken years longer than it should have for policy leaders to listen.” Let’s be accountable to science when it comes to wildlife as well.
Mike Stadnisky, Winthrop
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