Since officials began reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone in 1995, 69 years after the last were trapped out, the wolves have killed half the coyotes where the species" ranges overlap; causing the small canines (coyotes) to scale back their territories, movements, and social groups.
The Federal Wildlife Services (FWS) officials chose to speed up the process by transplanting a total of 31 Canadian wolves into America's oldest national park, Yellowstone, and 35 more into central Idaho's Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. The western population will be defined as recovered as soon as two things happen: "Ten breeding packs established themselves in each of the two reintroduction areas and remain together for three successive years, and second, ten packs establish themselves in the Montana region where natural colonization continues.". states Doug Chadwick .
The FDS distributed 750,000 information documents, held more than 130 public hearing, and collected some 160,000 comments and letters, the most ever received on an endangered species issue. Interestingly, sentiment ran strongly in favor of the reintroduction. The affected states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming respondents were surprisingly in favor of the reintroduction.
Although many were in favor of the reintroduction, hunters, ranchers and cowboys in Montana rallied against the Endangered Species Act. Their concerns ranged form the massacre of game to a demise of their way of life. They felt people's rights have to come first.
The transplant plan won public support, despite the nay-saying, in part because Defenders of Wildlife, a private conservation group, offered to compensate ranchers for any livestock lost to the wolves. They also eased protection normally afforded endanger species, ruling that ranchers in the reintroduction area could shoot any wolf caught attacking their livestock.
This action was not enough, however, to appease all parties.