Central Rockies Wolf Project

WG Note--the following basically asks for our help reporting wolf sightings, scat and other signs that wolves are in the Central Rockies. I think it's a good cause, please read the following and if you see evidence of wolves please report it to the email or numbers listed below.

My name is Dave Garrow and I am working with a research project called the Central Rockies Wolf Project (which I am sure you are somewhat familiar with) out of Canmore, Alberta. We research wolf habitat use, needs, survivorship and persistence on lands within the Central Rockies Ecosystem that lie outside of the National Park boundaries. I work under Carolyn Callaghan who completed her doctorate studies on the aboved mentioned research.

One of the organizations goals is to collect field data on the trends of wolf populations in the area. We achieve this by field research, including telemetry and opportunistic sightings. Although we have a well structured, time tested and effective research program, due to limited time, resources and efforts, it is impossible for our staff to cover the entire study area efficiently in a winter let alone a week. This problem got me thinking about possible resources - Climbers. Knowing you and your father's background a little and being a recreational climber myself I realized that of any group out there, climbers and skiers access a huge amount of terrain in the rockies daily. Coupled with this broad coverage, climbers are generally informed people with a passion for wildlife. So... I thought your site, being a popular resource for climbers, could help us with valuable links/tip offs as to the whereabouts of wolves in the rockies.

What I am asking is if we, The Central Rockies Wolf Project, could post a brief bulletin on your site asking climbers to report any wolf actitivity (tracks, sightings, scat etc.). These leads, coupled with our internal field research follow up, would give us a huge jump on the task of tracking and trying to inform the public and government factions on the status and needs of the wolf populations in the area. This information will hopefully lead to changes in local, regional and national policy in hopes of further protection for the rockies wolf populations.

I believe that the climbing community through its activities, passion and want for a better world could prove to be huge resource for wildlife biologists in the Bow Valley, if we can find a way to include them in the loop.

Thanks for your time,

Dave Garrow

Central Rockies Wolf Project

above address or dave@graywolf.ca

403 678-9633