In November, Wolf 253 showed up in Utah with a partner! It was the first verified sighting of a wolf in Utah in 70 years, since wolves were extirpated by ranchers and their allies.

Wolf 253 and his friend migrated from Yellowstone National Park. He was caught in a leg-hold trap by a coyote trapper near Morgan in the northern part of the state, while his partner escaped. He was immediately relocated to Grand Teton National Park by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an indication that the agency is determined to prevent the re­establishment of wolves in Utah.

In February, another wolf was shot and killed near Weston, Idaho, only a few miles from the Utah office of Western Watersheds Project. The killing is being investigated.

Utah is in the historic range of the gray wolf. While wolf populations in Yellowstone and central Idaho are on the rise, Utah has failed to anticipate their arrival with a management plan that incorporates mechanisms to protect them and their habitat. Meanwhile, Wyoming and Montana are in the throes of anti-wolf legislation that would make it illegal for wolves to exist anywhere except national parks in those states.

Faced with evidence of wolves in Utah, the state's legislature passed a bill in the current session that requires the Division of Wildlife Resources to prepare a management plan.

The Utah office of WWP is part of a coalition of organizations and university scientists called the Utah Wolf Forum. The group is dedicated to the long-term protection of wolves and wolf habitat in Utah.

As a member of UWF's Science Advisory Group, I've drawn up a paper that provides criteria for the state to use in its wolf management plan.

Visit the UWF website at http://www.brwcouncil.org/html/utwolforum.html.

Meanwhile, in the Bear River mountain range, we are working on livestock and forest management issues that have degraded habitat in this area for years. Already completed is a detailed survey of the range in Idaho, covering some 200,000 acres of national forest land. A mapping analysis derived from the survey will show the suitability and capacity for livestock grazing in the area, based on current science, our study and Forest Service data. It will be a powerful tool in our efforts to reduce grazing impacts in the area.

We're addressing many other projects from our Utah office including the renewal of livestock grazing permits on millions of acres of important wildlife habitat in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Our work in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument continues, and we'll release a report later this year about our work in the Uinta Wilderness, where tens of thousands of domestic sheep are destroying watersheds.

John Carter is Utah director of WWP. He lives in Mendon, Utah.