ABQ Mayor: Wolves Tourist Draw

The Associated Press
SILVER CITY -- Albuquerque Mayor Jim Baca thinks putting wolves in the Gila would benefit tourism.
Baca made his feelings known last week at a meeting in Silver City scheduled to take public comment on a plan to relocate some Mexican gray wolves into the Gila National Forest.
According to his representative at the meeting, Baca believes putting wolves in the Gila "has numerous benefits for the city of Albuquerque."
Specifically, Baca believes a relatively close proximity to wolves would mean an increase in tourism.
Julie Hicks, Baca's communications officer, said Idaho, Wyoming and Montana enjoy an estimated $20 million in tourism revenue directly generated by the presence of wolves. Wolves were reintroduced into that area's Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s.
"Wolves in particular are a significant draw for tourists," Hicks said.
But the locals in Silver City are just plain against it.
Bill Van Dran, president of the Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce, said: "The Chamber's position is to support and foster business in Grant County. We don't support any translocation of wolves into any area of Grant County."
He said the presence of wolves would be detrimental to business in general, and especially to agriculture, outfitting and hunting. He said drawing tourists would require a captive facility that would allow visitors to get a look at the endangered animals.
But people with businesses in states where wolves live say tourists don't have to be promised a glimpse of a wolf before they choose the destination for their vacations.
Ken Sinay owns the Northern Rockies Natural History in Bozeman, Mont. His one-man operation has been providing a nature-based tourism service for about 10 years, he said Friday.
Sinay uses a Suburban rigged for wildlife viewing to take tourists on safari-style excursions into Yellowstone and surrounding areas. Sinay said the presence of wolves in Yellowstone has benefited his business "phenomenally."
He said any media attention regarding wolves benefits his business.
"Even if there's conflict in the paper associated with wolves and livestock producers it's going to benefit me," Sinay said. "It's all publicity that's marketing the area. Any publicity affects my bottom line."
And people also are coming to see other wildlife and scenery as well as to learn about the area's history.
"Experiencing the wolves' habitat is experiencing the animal," he said.
"What people need is for their expectations to be met," he explained, so he does not guarantee that his visitors will see wolves. "The interest in wildlife viewing and observation is growing anyway on a natural and world scale."
Brenda and Travis Bullock own an outfitting business, Mile High Outfitters, based out of Challis, Idaho. Their hunting territory is in the middle of the Frank Church Wilderness in the central part of the state.
When wolves were reintroduced into the Wilderness in 1996, Brenda said Travis "decided he might as well make money off" them.
In the few years Travis has been guiding wolf trips, she said last year was the first time guests actually saw wolves. A pack killed a cow elk between the group's camp and a Forest Service cabin. The guests got pictures of the wolves.
However, Brenda Bullock, is concerned that the wolves are competing with hunters for the elk. A decline in the elk population could lead to greater restrictions on hunting in the area, she fears.
"We're in debt $300,000 for this business," she said, explaining that is what they paid for the hunting rights in their area. "It's not worth anything if there's no hunting."