My wife and I recently traveled to northern Minnesota for an educational vacation to learn about wolves and black bears in the wild. We returned not only with the usual maps, souvenirs, and photographs, but also with a deeper understanding of the need for wilderness and untamed spaces for the health of wildlife and of the human spirit.

Our host for the weekend seminar was the International Wolf Center (www.wolf.org, 1-800-ELY-WOLF) in Ely, Minn., a private non-profit organization established for the purpose of educating visitors about wolves through exhibits and lectures. Our hosts also included the resident pack of five ambassador wolves, including two arctic wolf yearlings. At this wonderful facility we participated in field tracking, historical studies, wilderness howling, and had the opportunity observe the resident wolves up close and personal. To understand and view wolves interacting is a rare opportunity indeed.

Throughout history, wolves have been characterized as the cunning villainous predators of fairy tales and scary campfire stories, most often pictured as a constant threat to livestock and unwary backwoods travelers. Their portrayal as instinctively ruthless and bloodthirsty has placed them - in the minds of many - in direct competition with humans for food and our need for ever-expanding settlement territory. These myths have been exaggerated and expanded to include wolves stealing babies from unattentive mothers and transforming themselves to near human “werewolves.” Rarely have they been shown in their true and purposeful image as a top-level predator responsible for maintaining herd animal health by culling the sick and weak animals, nor for their highly structured social organization and hierarchy.

Minnesota has the largest population of free-roaming wolves in the continental U.S., which researchers estimate to be around 2,600 individuals. As one might expect, the overwhelming majority are located in the remote upper portions of the state in and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area and its thousands of acres of lakes, forests, and abundant wildlife on which they depend for survival.

Scientists have classified these animals into many distinct groups or “packs” containing from a few individuals to up to 25 members, each with its own territory and hierarchy. These packs act as extended family units and share the responsibility for the health and welfare of the entire pack including hunting, protection from intruders, and the raising of young. The pack is led by the dominant or “alpha” pair, who are usually the only pair to breed in a given year, hereby insuring that the most favorable traits for survival will be passed on to the next generation. The alpha pair will also be the first to eat at a kill, determine where and when to hunt, and when to relocate the pack to another part of their territory.
Each individual within the pack adheres to a strict social standing or “pecking order” within the group, down to the lowest ranking or “omega” individuals. While some social mobility does occur, individuals within the pack who attempt to upset or change this ranking are severely reprimanded, driven off, or even killed.

Controversy has followed the wolf probably since the first human-wolf encounters. Starting in the 1600s, governments declared war on wolves by offering a bounty for all killed. In the U. S., believe it or not, the bounty was offered until 1965. Trapping, poisoning, and hunting from airplanes have all been employed in an attempt to rid the country of what some see as a threat to livestock, as hunting trophies, and as a constant reminder of our fears and insecurities. Finally realizing the ignorance and arrogance of this policy, and the mistakes that had been made because of the lack of information on the important role wolves play in the health of other species, hunting was stopped in 1970. In 1973, the gray wolf (canis lupus), including several sub-species, were placed on the list of the newly enacted Endangered Species Act. Since that time, several reintroduction programs have been tried with mixed results. Here in the Smoky Mountains, the red wolf (a sub-species of the gray wolf) was reintroduced into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, an experiment that thus far has failed. In 1995-96, reintroductions were tried in the Rockies and with Mexican wolves in the Southwest. Now, a proposal is being considered to try a reintroduction in Adirondack Park in upstate New York. The last wolf there was killed in 1893.

In July 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to reclassify and de-list the gray wolf in much of the U.S. This proposal begins the process of returning wolf management to the control of state and tribal governments. Critics on both sides abound.

It appears that humans are still at odds with how they are to co-exist with wolves. Some feel these animals still present a threat to society, while some feel they represent all that is truly wild and beautiful. The wolf, as I have come to know it, just wants to be a wolf, raise its young and pursue the life of the pack in balance with the natural world, away and apart from the humans who have persecuted them for centuries. Their presence on the land, and their howls at night as they call to one another, evoke deep feelings of connection to the planet and its inhabitants to those who listen with unbiased ears. Humans have changed their world and continue to plunge deeper into the remaining wilderness in pursuit of a connection with nature, oftentimes by its conquest. It is imperative that we leave some spaces untouched, without condos or golf courses or convenience stores. This preservation of wildlands, and space for the creatures who dwell there, may indeed be the only act we are capable of performing that demonstrates we are not an ignorant species in the eyes of the wolf.

(John Beckman is a builder, organic farmer, and Operations Manager at Unahwi Ridge Community in Jackson County. Contact can be made at www.unahwiridge.com.)

 

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