After the American wolf population was decimated to levels nearing extinction, there have been significant efforts in recent decades to help restore populations of both red and grey wolves. A lecture Tuesday looks at the future for wolves in Western Colorado.
Mike Phillips is a Montana state senator and the executive director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund. The nonprofit studies how wolves interact with and affect their natural prey, as well impacts the animals have on ranching and hunting operations.
He has been involved in government efforts to restore red wolves to the southeastern US and gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park, and he will provide insights into the challenges and successes of reintroduction in Montana.
Phillips and others in the conservation community point to studies that show that apex predators like wolves have wide-ranging ecological benefits, but many ranchers and hunters oppose introduction of the species into areas where they have been eradicated.
The lecture is at 6 p.m. at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies at Hallam Lake.
