Yellowstone wolf impact not as strong as thought.

[cachukis]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260613215510.htm
Wolf populations in Yellowstone National Park have myriad impacts on ecosystems, but exactly how those impacts play out in the complex system is still under consideration. New research from Utah State University ecologist Dan MacNulty and colleagues shows earlier reports of massive increases in willow biomass is an artifact of circular modeling and other methodological errors. Credit: Nomadic Lass

One of the most widely cited stories about Yellowstone's wolves is facing fresh scrutiny.

A new peer reviewed analysis published in Global Ecology and Conservation argues that a high profile 2025 study significantly overstated the ecological impact of wolf recovery in Yellowstone National Park. Researchers from Utah State University and Colorado State University say the earlier work relied on flawed methods that led to exaggerated conclusions about how wolves affected the park's ecosystem.

[marble falls]

1. Are the peers doing the reviewing MAGA?

[cachukis]

2. Sadly, I think MAGA is beyond peer.

[2naSalit]

3. I would be interesting in...

Finding that out.

I have have business with McNulty and some of the staff in the park. I provided some of the funding for some of his research for his doctorate. I was glad he went to work in the park after he graduated.

I'll have to do some reading on this. I used to cite many of the studies in my O&E presentations so finding out about updated info is important to me.

[cachukis]

5. Likewise. Found the first stories as fascinating,

but science is rarely finished.
The butterfly effect is often lost in the minutiae.

[Botany]

4. 100% bullshit.

I attended a conference about the benefits of the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone
by some of the people who did that work or studied the results and the benefits of having
wolves are facts.

Example:
Elk prior to the return of the wolves used to eat the clones of Aspen trees along the
waterways and were like big cows but once the wolves came back the elk stopped
hanging out and eating the young Aspens and so they grew up and shaded the creeks
and river which cooled the water temperatures and dropped insects into the waters
which helped the native Cutthroat Trout which the bears liked to eat and there were
fewer bear vs human problems. Also the meadows grew up which helped in biodiversity
and in turn helped all kinds of critters such as pollinators, small mammals, foxes,
and birds of prey too.

[cachukis]

6. Read all that as well. Maybe the conclusions are

being refined.

[yellowcanine]

7. Controlling populations of browsers ( elk, deer) benefits songbird populations also.

Numerous studies have shown this. Heavy browsing destroys bird habitat and also allows invasive plant species to move in. This in turn reduces native insect populations which the songbirds depend on for food.

[yardwork]

8. Greedy people love to use the nature of science to their advantage.

Scientific consensus is that the Earth is warming rapidly and it's due to human behavior. But it's the nature of scientists to squabble over details and debate and argue. That's the strength of science. There isn't a round solid perfect answer. There are nuances and details and surprises. Those refinements and ongoing discoveries strengthen the conclusions.

But it's very easy to exploit that strength into a propaganda built around seeming gotcha moments. "It was all a lie" is bullshit. "It's a little more complicated than we thought" is usually true.

I know I'm preaching to the choir as you know all this - just wanted to vent.

Of course wolves are essential to the Yellowstone ecosystem. Of course it's not as simple as a fairy tale. We already knew that.

[2naSalit]

11. And those points...

Are many that I made in my presentations as a lobbyist and as a park ranger in YNP.

I knew most of the people who actually carried out the reintroduction to both YNP and the Frank Church Wilderness River of No Return. In fact, I know the last living person responsible for the Frank Church WRNR. I also was in contact with many of those who conducted much of the past research, for many years and cited their research in my work.

I know that things change but I wonder how they assess the human factor in these more recent studies. I also wonder Whether parameters have been placed in or on these studies by the anti-science crowd who have taken over our government. Methodology components of these studies will be interesting to read about.

And on top of all that, I lived right outside and around the park for 35 years and frequently observed these thing first hand.

Will be looking to find out about this.

[Botany]

13. The talk I heard about Yellowstone and wolves was @ a conference on ecological restoration in Nebraska

about 30 years ago. What worries me is that “they” might be trying to change the
narrative in order to make it easier to kill wolves. After being gone from Ohio for
about 100 years the bobcat is coming back and our mouth breathers wanted to know
when they can hunt them. Btw I am a hunter too. Deer.

Btw I had a friend who was an expert and had 3 wolf/husky hybrids… 80% to 20% and
if the big male liked you he would just lean on you but he did not like to be patted.

I have heard wolves in Ontario and seen 2 in the wild. Beautiful creatures!

[2naSalit]

14. They are fascinating animals...

I suspect that there is a push to relax their protected status, again, for more hunting. Since I moved away from there, I miss hearing the wolves sing at night and seeing tracks on occasion. I used to track one particular pack, right after it established, near town. It was one of my fun things to do while skiing but more often they were shadowing my movements through their established range.

I read the article and it is kind of a mealy-mouth approach to the idea that some calculations were reassessed and what was anticipated as park-wide spread of the wolves was not a smooth coverage as there were no wolves on the west side of the park for over a decade and so the effects were not as impactful throughout the park as expected by Bechta and Ripple back in like 2001. I saw the exclosures where areas were fenced off to see what would happen if no grazing took place over time. I also had conversations with Bechta and Ripple after their first study on this topic was published.

So what happened was that the wolves were released in the northeastern portion of the park. The least impacted by humans, the rest of the park is swarmed by humans for half the year so it makes sense that it took so long for the wolves to migrate there. The impacts where the wolves have been established longest are clearly seen in the Lamar Valley where the riparian areas are recovering, still. But you go to the west side of the park and along the Madison River, it looks like a golf course because the elk hang out and graze like cattle because there are not enough wolves to make them move around as roving ungulate do in a balanced ecosystem. I used to point that out in my ranger talks on wolves because you could see the golf course right there in front of you along with a lot of elk.

Anyway, you know the story, it's the one I'm sticking with. I liked Dan McNulty when I was in contact with him and I think he a good researcher. I might have to make a couple phone calls, I might not to get to talk to him but I can get close.

I'll let you know if I find anything worth repeating!

[Botany]

16. So you cross country skied in and around Yellowstone while looking for wolves but they were

Last edited Tue Jun 16, 2026, 08:49 AM - Edit history (1)

really looking @ you? You are a rich woman. Correction

Btw from all the times I have been outdoors and seen red fox are nothing compared to the
# of times they knew I was around and made themselves scarce. They really are quite common
but human avoidance is a trait that has helped them out. I have noticed them from a deer stand
up in a tree but almost never when I was on the ground. Coyotes here are easier to spot but
in most cases they are looking at me and are turned sideways to me. We have a nice population
of both coyotes and red fox in my neighborhood but you almost never see them.

[2naSalit]

17. I did...

When I lived there. I have evacuated Montana due to its being overtaken by the magat class.

Yes, I was able to track and see wolves year round, it was fun and exciting. They will see you first and avoid you but parallel your trajectory to make sure you don't go too close to either their den or rendezvous location where pups might be. I could feel their presence and their gaze even when I couldn't see them. I often saw them once I got back to the car or far enough from being a potential threat, they would show themselves. It was so cool to actually see them after all the fighting in board rooms and public hearings I witnessed and participated in.

I was also blessed to actually meet, in person, a couple 'ambassador' wolves who were human friendly, they had been captives somewhere prior, and traveled around the country as educational ambassadors invited to many gatherings. Got to hand feed them and look them right in the face as they tried to lick my teeth - the way they greet each other. They were friendly but certainly NOT regular dogs. I have pictures of the encounter. It was amazing, something I'll never forget, it was magical and so many other things, but also removes any idea that they are not strong and wild.

There are many things I miss about my old digs around YNP but it became too much to deal with having too many haters who knew my identity, the threats were a bit much and after a couple decades of it, my friends had it worse. I decided to go where nobody knows me. So far, it's a success but it's only been a year.

And, because my handle doesn't make it clear, I'm female.

[Botany]

18. By no means are wolves regular dogs. The three I got to know and liked my black lab but if he did

something that alpha male didn’t like he would curl his lip and show just his front canine tooth
and my 100 lbs lab would tuck his tail but fall behind the alpha male as “the pack” was walking.
Like I said before the big male liked me so he would come up and lean on me but he was not all
dog like in that he didn’t like to be patted. I think it was a dominance thing.

Btw they lived in a house close to the park where I walked my lab and if they were outside
and I drove by with my lab all 3 would start howling.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. Why the pushback on this new assessment?

[2naSalit]

12. Because it...

Seems to undermine over forty years of research. Some of us, who have been engaged in and conducted a lot of it are interested in a finding that seems to be an outlier that appears to contradict what many researchers have found.

[dugog55]

10. Ecological changes do not happen overnight.

Reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone, where they used to be plentiful is certainly the correct thing to do. But to expect major changes in a year, decade, or several decades is short sighted. They are not modifying a machine, nature takes time to do its job.

[2naSalit]

15. I suspect that...

The actual study is more forgiving, haven't found it to read yet and I'll need some time to digest it when I do find it.

The article, linked to here, is more of an exercise in poor choice of words. What it sounds like, when you get to the part about the actual dispute, is that some calculations included some expectation about the unknown. The first study by Ripple (along with a Dr. Bechta) was that if wolves had recovered the Lamar Valley as they had in a short period of less than ten years, the whole park could see benefits throughout in a matter of decades. That didn't happen homogeneously because of terrain and humans in a lot of the areas where wolves could have made an impact sooner. It took almost two decades for wolf packs to establish on the west side of the park which is extremely busy for most of the year. Not for lack of elk to feed on.

I have to read the study to gather more but I find it odd that one researcher would outright dispute other researchers' work in the way presented in the article. I have worked with one of the authors and I know that he knows the researchers of the other studies. Somethings doesn't seem right about the way in which this article about the research is presented.