Apr 21, 2024
Wolverines, the largest land-dwelling members of the weasel
family, once roamed across the northern tier of the United States,
and as far south as New Mexico in the Rockies and southern
California in the Sierra Nevada range. But after more than a
century of trapping and habitat loss, wolverines in the lower 48
today exist only as small, fragmented populations in Idaho,
Montana, Washington, Wyoming, and northeast Oregon.
However, there’s soon to be an effort in Colorado to help the
carnivores recover in that state. The Colorado legislature has been
considering legislation calling for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Agency to move ahead with a recovery plan for wolverines. The bill
is expected to face its final legislative hurdle in the coming
weeks.
To discuss this initiative, we’re joined today by Megan Mueller, a
conservation biologist with Rocky Mountain Wild, a non-profit
advocacy organization working to bring them back, and Elaine
Leslie, who was Chief of Biological Resources for the National Park
Service before retiring.