A wolf pack stalks a herd of elk. This is a rare sight even now, but a few years ago, you would never have been able to see this site in Yellowstone National Park. I believe that wolf reintroduction is a good thing for the environment.

One reason we need the wolves is because of river banks. When the wolves were hunting the elk who eat the grasses, they keep the elk from eating too much.

According to “Campground Kids Grand Teton Stampede” by C.R. Fulton and Dylan Bakken and “Bear Bottom” by Stuart Gibbs, however, when the wolves were gone, the elk ate too much grass. This connects to the river banks because the grass roots hold the banks together, but when the elk eat them, the banks will erode.

Another reason why we need wolves is so trees can grow and animals can make new habitats. When the wolves weren’t hunting the elk, trees like aspens and willows got grazed down.

According to “The Return of the Wolf: How Much Do They Rebuild Ecosystems” on Newsela by Phoebe Weston, with wolves in national parks like Yellowstone the elk stayed away from meadows and river banks to avoid being hunted. This helped by allowing these areas to regenerate, this allowed animals like beavers, fish, small mammals, amphibians, insects, and other animals to build homes. With the wolves, the aspen went from being grazed down to flourishing.

Some people might say, why can’t we let the elk graze down the grasses and let the river banks collapse? But imagine going for a walk and not seeing the green grass and trees all around you, or going fishing or just standing on the river bank and it collapsing right under your feet.

Those are two very important reasons and why I believe that we need the wolves, so the aspens and the animals all around them have a place to live and the river banks stay strong.

Libby Whittemore is a 10-year-old 5th grader at Crest View Elementary who loves to play and watch soccer.