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Recitation Number:
Assignment 5: Debate on Wolves
This assignment needs to be 1 page (no more than 2 pages), typed, double or one and one half spaced, 11
or 12pt font. It needs to be completed for recitation the week of November 14th. This assignment will also
serve as a basis for a debate to be held in your recitation that same week. You will be graded both on
the quality and content of your written answers as well as your performance in the debate.
The question
Should we reintroduce wolves into Rocky Mountain National Park in order to bring ecological balance to
the system, similar to how wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone?
The puzzle
There is currently a very high elk population in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Wolves are the
natural predators of elk, and without a wolf population in the park the elk are overgrazing and changing
the composition of the park. One of the most devastating effects has been the loss of aspen trees.
In response, the park has started different management strategies, one of which is fencing off aspen
groves. Another response is the managed culling the elk herd by park officers. The idea of wolf reintroduction was not previously mentioned as a management strategy because the park was considered too
small and it was decided that the plan needed to be approved by multiple stakeholders. Wolves surely
would not stay within park boundaries and might kill livestock, which would be an issue for landowners
and ranchers living near the park.
You can use your textbook and any additional websites, news articles, or journal articles to support your
position. Some additional questions to think about include: “should wolves still be protected as an
endangered species? What should happen if they get out of the park and kill livestock? If ranchers are to
be compensated, who should pay for the compensation?”
The positions
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Hunters
Grand Valley Ranchers (West side of RMNP)
Homeowners (There were already moutain lions on campus this year, ready for wolves?)
Ecologists/park managers
Conservationists
What you need to do
To explore this question, you will use the concepts and ideas brought up in lecture and in your textbook
since the beginning of the course. This is another opportunity to apply conceptual tools you learned in the
first part of the course to a real-life puzzle. You should review and start your research for this debate by
reading Chapter 11, Wolves. You may also need to draw from other chapters to review perspectives we
have read about such as the market approach, institutions, ethics, or population. You may also want to
explore additional material from books, scholarly journals, newspapers, Internet sources, or magazine
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Recitation Number:
articles, to answer the following questions. You will need to cite at least 2 sources in addition to your
textbook. You should come to recitation prepared to present and defend the position assigned to you by
your TA.
You should directly answer or have these points in mind when you write your paper; you MUST address
point 4 & 10 in your paper.
1. Does reintroducing wolves in to RMNP present a viable and natural means of managing the elk
population in RMNP?
2. What sorts of problems are presented for your group by the reintroduction of wolves into RMNP?
3. If wolf populations stabilize in certain locations, should decisions about wolf hunting be allowed
to be handled at the state level? Or should it remain a more locally-managed activity? Keep the
Endangered Species Act in mindand what it means for how a species can be managed:
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/ESA_basics.pdf
4. Which perspective(s) best represents your position?
5. Is there a market-based solution in this puzzle? What roles do political economy or institutions
play in wolf management?
6. How does a risks and hazards approach inform your position? Are all the risks and rewards being
shared equally among the stakeholders?
7. What ethical approaches are accepted or rejected by your position?
8. Does Colorado’s fast growing population mean there will be no room for wolves in the near
future, if indeed there is now?
9. If we assume our understanding of wolves has been socially constructed, can we re-manufacture
the underpinning narrative to make space for wolves?
10. Anticipate 1 or 2 counter arguments to your position using the approaches learned in the
class. How would you defend against them?
A good paper needs to . . .
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Lay out your team/character’s perspective using the perspectives we have learned to explain how
you see what is going on and what needs to happen.
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Talk about forest ecology when laying out and supporting you argument.
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Use at least 3 references.
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Talk about how at least one other team may adopt a different perspective and why that perspective
is flawed in relation to your team’s position and in relation to the wolves and national park
ecology.
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USEFUL LINKS FOR STARTING YOUR RESEARCH:
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/02/another-yellowstone-national-park-wolf-reaches-colorado
http://www.hcn.org/issues/314/16046
http://gazetteoutthere.blogspot.com/2008/03/sueing-for-wolves-in-rmnp.html
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2009/02/16/point-counterpoint-wolf-reintroduction-in-rockymountain-national-park/
http://watch.montanapbs.org/video/1496470213/
http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolves.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_wolves_in_Yellowstone
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2011/04/latest-studies-yellowstone-national-parks-wolf-packsshows-stable-population7900
http://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/wolves-in-colorado/
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kunc/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1664048/Regional/Biologist.Studi
es.Wolves'.Possible.Return.to.Colorado
http://www.denverpost.com/perspective/ci_14385321
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/wolf,_gray.php
HOW TO WRITE A QUALITY PAPER AND RECEIVE AN “A”.
A quality paper will include the following structural elements:
1. Thesis stating your position at the beginning of your paper.
2. Following your thesis should be the supporting points for your perspective which will also address the
questions above (you should have at least 3 supporting points).
3. Each supporting point should draw from sources including the book and outside sources.
4. Argue from your perspective against at least one other perspective.
5. Closing statement that returns to your thesis statement to show how it is true.
6. Include references in your paper and attach a bibliography using a consistent reference style.
More on how to write a quality paper:
1. Do not rely on your spell check to catch all your spelling and grammar mistakes. If you do you will end up
with easily caught mistakes like “boulder” as the city you live in.
2. Please feel free to use Wikipedia as a starting place for your research, BUT don’t cite it in your paper.
In addition to the above guidance, please see the documents on the class website entitled: Paper assignment
guidelines and How paper grades work.