Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) for the Wolves of the Southern Rockies
Successful federal wolf recovery programs for the western United States have increased the number of wolves in this vast region from none just a few years ago to more than 300 today. With the impending U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to reclassify wolves throughout the country, as well as the on-going restoration projects in the northern Rockies and Southwest, the time was deemed right to begin addressing the question of wolf recovery in the Southern Rocky Mountains Ecoregion, an area between these two recovery areas that stretches from south-central Wyoming though western Colorado to northern New Mexico. A coalition of groups, called the Southern Rockies Wolf Restoration Project, formed in February, 2000 to advance wolf recovery in the region. However, for successful recovery to ever occur it is essential to include a broader representation of stakeholders in public discussions.
The Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) workshop, held at the Vermejo Park ranch in northeastern New Mexico August 8th-11th, 2000, provided an opportunity to do just that by bringing together scientists, landowners, wildlife agency personnel, conservationists, and other interested parties. To ensure a successful workshop, the Turner Endangered Species Fund and Defenders of Wildlife invited the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) to serve as a neutral workshop facilitator and organizer. CBSG is a member of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN - World Conservation Union, and for more than a decade has been developing, testing, and applying a series of science-based tools and processes to assist species management decision-making. One tool CBSG employs is use of neutral facilitators to moderate small working group sessions, as the success of the workshop is based on the cooperative process of dialogue, group meetings, and detailed modeling of alternative species and/or habitat management scenarios. The CBSG team was led by Dr. Onnie Byers facilitating the overall process. Participants and invitees are listed in the report.
