The New Wolves

Real patriots do more than wear a flag in the label. They truly care for that part of the earth that the flag represents, and are distressed by the abuse the land has taken. The last of the Mexican wolves (or lobos) in the Southwest were captured in the 1970's, and placed in zoos. Fear of wolves seems to be "hardwired" into human's DNA, no doubt from prehistoric times, when there were real clashes between the two species over food territories. This fear, even loathing, was captured by Willa Cather, another author who has written about the Southwest, in her classic book on the American plains, "My Antonio." In this book three Russians who have immigrated to Nebraska are held in contempt because of the rumors that their past had included throwing the bride and groom off a sled traveling through the Russian steppe in winter - literally, "to the wolves," to slow down their pursuit. Furthermore, wolves in America do, from time to time, attack, and eat livestock - and thus there is much hostility from many ranchers to their existence. But solving the rancher's concerns by taking the wolf out of the eco-system lead to those famous "unintended consequences" which include overgrazing of the land by deer and elk, that were the natural prey of the wolf. Rick Bass has written an important book which tells the story of a few real patriots who have tried to re-introduce the wolf into its natural habitat. He describes the problem in the first chapter entitled "Drought." Some students and a few teachers became interested in making "amends" to nature by restoring some of the original eco-system, and one chapter covers the painstaking steps taken by this group to prepare wolves that had been raised in captivity to their new life "in the wild." By far though, most of the book details the human "strife" surrounding the new program, including support from the federal government, opposition from the ranchers, the provocative role of an eco-anarchist (Dave Foreman, founder of Earth First!), and the unlikely support of a billionaire who had made his money in the media, Ted Turner. The University of New Mexico football team is called the "lobos," so there remains much local interest in the project... pro and con, and there are the scattered articles in the paper, which even carry the perhaps true story of school children being threatened by wolves at the bus stop. Then again, it may simply be the hysteria from the "hardwired" loathing of wolves. Bass book is now 10 years old; in the interim the political winds have blown against those who believe that more funds should be spent on preserving our natural environment, including our National Parks. Though it might be discouraging, the book should be updated to cover this period. The political winds have again changed, and those interested in our environment and infrastructure are now ascendant. A recommended read.

Rick Bass' New Wolves (1-58574-265-1, $14.95) charts the return of the Mexican Wolf to the American Southwest and the controversies surrounding its preservation. Political, social and natural history blend in essays which survey the wolves and provide first-person observations. A recommended pick for any who love animals and natural history.

I have long been an admirer and fan of Rick Bass' works. He is a nature writer that understands the importance of landscape and wild places and creatures to the human spirit and the necessity to have all the appropriate elements of a particular landscape to make it complete. The Mexican wolf has been gone from the American Southwest for 70 years and Bass argues that the reintroduction of these wolves into this area is one of rightness and inevitability, as the landscape wants and cries for the wolves to be here. The book is sprinkled with a varied cast of characters, from Ted Turner and an assortment of wildlife biologists, (the heros of this story,) ranchers, students, amd many others. All points of view are thoughtfully considered and also the land and the wolves are described in the haunting manner that only Rick Bass can fashion. A great book for anyone interested in wolves, ecology, biology, or just landscape and nature and our human connection to it. I would highly recommend this book.