Wolf Nation

by Brenda Peterson

  Hélène Grimaud has even recorded a “Wolf Moonlight Sonata”: “Hélène Grimaud ~Wolf Moonlight Sonata,” YouTube, November 27, 2012, https://youtu.be/fwf1Db8hbJQ?list=FLb7GBb0l9GPky5MezzgLBUw.

  Other experiments on how animals react to human music: Zen Faulkes, “Can Animals Enjoy Music the Same Way as Humans Can?” Quora, August 4, 2014.

  We agree that Rachmaninoff’s music claims: “Rachmaninoff Concerto #2 (Hélène Grimaud),” YouTube, July 11, 2015, https://youtu.be/_asI5WvGVQs?list=FLb7GBb0l9GPky5MezzgLBUw.

  As Grimaud and I continue to talk about Simone Weil’s: Brenda Peterson, “The Sacredness of Chores,” in Nature and Other Mothers (New York: HarperCollins, 1992).

  Literary ecologist Joseph Meeker, in his classic: Joseph W. Meeker, The Comedy of Survival: In Search of an Environmental Ethic (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1997).

  He argues that the Greek tragic tradition has led: Christy Rodgers, “At Play in the Comedy of Survival,” CounterPunch, April 10, 2015.

  When Grimaud first encountered this she-wolf: Grimaud, Wild Harmonies, 1, 21, 26, 58, 205, 216–217.

  Once, when the wolf was howling, Grimaud realized: “Alawa,” Wolf Conservation Center, http://nywolf.org/ambassador-wolves/alawa.

  Ethologist Marc Bekoff writes about animals’ moral: Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce, “The Ethical Dog,” Scientific American, February 1, 2010.

  Even Darwin believed that animals “would acquire: Tom Fort, “Wild Justice by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce and Made for Each Other by Meg Daley Olmert: Review,” Telegraph, May 21, 2009.

  “Resonance” is “sound produced by a body: Resonance, Dictionary.com, http://www.dictionary.com/browse/resonance?s=t.

  German jazz musician Joachim-Ernst Berendt writes: Joachim-Ernst Berendt, Nada Brahma: The World Is Sound: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness (Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 1987).

  CHAPTER 13. OR7: A WOLF CALLED JOURNEY

  Without a family, there are so many dangers: Rob Klavins, “Hiking with Wolves,” Oregon Wild, October 6, 2010.

  His howl was as resonant as a canine Pavarotti: Oregon Wild, SoundCloud, https://soundcloud.com/oregon-wild/wolf-howl-072313.

  Robust and charcoal black, OR4 was so tenacious: Rob Klavins, “A Eulogy for OR4,” Oregon Wild, March 31, 2016.

  “There were rumors of wolves in the west: Zach Urness, “When the Wolves Return to Western Oregon,” Statesman Journal, March 14, 2014.

  OR7’s family lived in the heart of hostile cattle country: Emma Marris, “Lone Wolf That Took Epic Journey Across West Finds a Mate,” National Geographic, May 18, 2014.

  Even though 70 percent of Oregon residents support: Joe Donnelly, “What One Wolf’s Extraordinary Journey Means for the Future of Wildlife in America,” Take Part, December 17, 2014.

  These losses are highly overshadowed by the fact: Ibid.

  Oregon’s Statesman Journal called OR7 “A folk hero.”: Zach Urness, “When the Wolves Return to Western Oregon,” chapter 1: “A Folk Hero Called OR7,” Statesman Journal, 2014.

  A rare sighting of OR7 in Lake Almanor, Oregon: “OR7—The Journey Movie Trailer,” YouTube, October 26, 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WbEbNlyGIk.

  By migrating to the Pacific Coast, OR7: Renee Lee, “California Welcomes Wild Wolf for First Time in 87 Years,” USDA Blog, January 18, 2012, http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/01/18/california-welcomes-wild-wolf-for-first-time-in-87-years.

  “Being an apex predator in a landscape that hasn’t: Bettina Boxall, “Gray Wolf Takes to California, but Is Unlikely to Find a Mate Here,” Los Angeles Times, January 1, 2013.

  In Siskiyou County, later one of OR7’s favorite haunts: “OR7—The Journey Movie Trailer,” YouTube.

  OR7 was following the archetypal “hero’s journey”: “Examples of Each Stage of a Hero’s Journey,” YourDictionary. http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-each-stage-of-a-hero-s-journey.html.

  Joseph Campbell wrote, “You enter the forest: Joseph Campbell, “The Hero’s Journey Quotes,” Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1644565-the-hero-s-journey-joseph-campbell-on-his-life-work-works.

  But the Times, like most biologists, still predicted: Maria L. La Ganga, “OR7, the Wandering Wolf, Looks for Love in All the Right Places,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 2014.

  Even an ex-president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association: Marris, “Lone Wolf That Took Epic Journey Across West Finds a Mate.”

  One color photo from the Oregonian’s proud announcement: Lynne Terry, “OR7: Biologists Confirm Oregon Wolf Has at Least 2 Pups,” Oregonian, June 4, 2014.

  About the time OR7 found his mate, a quasi-documentary film: “The Wolf OR-7 Expedition—Trailer,” YouTube, January 26, 2016, https://youtu.be/qdEObTbzLWw.

  It actually makes things worse in the long run: Courtney Flatt, “How Killing Wolves Might Be Leading to More Livestock Attacks,” Northwest Public Radio/EarthFix, February 18, 2015, www.opb.org/news/article/study-killing-wolves-causes-more-livestock-depreda.

  A 2016 film, Wolf OR-7: Expedition, chronicles: Wolf OR-7 Expedition, http://or7expedition.org/category/news; Wolf OR-7 Expedition, Facebook, www.facebook.com/or7expedition.

  “It is only through walking it that anyone: “After First Wolf Resettles Oregon, Group Retracing Trek of Wandering OR-7,” New Mexico News, March 19, 2014.

  Along with the films and media coverage, OR7s story: Emma Bland Smith, Journey: Based on the True Story of OR7, the Most Famous Wolf in the West (Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2016).

  In November 2015 Oregon’s Fish and Game Commission: Kelly House, “Wolf Allies, Foes Prep for Battle as Oregon Reconsiders Endangered Status,” Oregonian, June 9, 2015.

  Oregon’s more enlightened and sustainable wolf-recovery policies: Brenda Peterson, “Wild Wolves: The Old and the New West,” Huffington Post, November 16, 2015.

  Oregon had been on the cutting edge of wolf recovery: “Getting Territorial Over Delisting—Controversy Ignites Over Move to Permanently Remove Wolf Designation,” Willamette Live, January 21, 2016.

  New research data has confirmed that acceptance decreases: Adrian Treves, “Wolf Delisting Decision Not Based on the Facts,” Register-Guard, February 15, 2016.

  Oregon’s wildlife commission doubled down on its decision: “Scientists Slam Oregon’s ‘Fundamentally Flawed’ Proposal to Remove Wolf Protections,” Center for Biological Diversity, October 29, 2015.

  It also shows the dominance of the $669 million beef industry: Kelly House, “Gov. Kate Brown Signs Bill Blocking Legal Review of Gray Wolf Protections,” Oregonian, March 15, 2016.

  In March of 2016 Oregon wildlife officials had issued: “Depredations Lead to Lethal Control for Wolves in Wallowa County,” ODFW press release, March 31, 2016, http://dfw.state.or.us/news/2016/03_march/033116.asp.

  The kill order came down even when Oregon’s wildlife officials: Kelly House, “State Officials Kill 4 Wolves After Attacks on Livestock,” Oregonian, March 31, 2016.

  In his eulogy for OR4 Oregon Wild’s Rob Klavins wrote: Klavins, “A Eulogy for OR-4.”

  Even Men’s Journal mourned the loss of OR4: Melissa Gaskill, “Eulogy for a Wolf: The Life and Legacy of OR4, Oregon’s Most Celebrated Wild Wolf,” Men’s Journal.

  The popular wolf blog “Howling for Justice” wrote: “Oregon’s Shame—OR4 and His Family Aerial Gunned for the Sacred Cow…” Howling for Justice, April 3, 2016.

  Then, the state-sanctioned sniper sights on OR4: Joe Donnelly, “Oregon Just Killed a Family of Wolves,” Yahoo News, April 2, 2016.

  OR4 didn’t just belong to Oregon: Gaskill, “Eulogy for a Wolf.”

  “I think it’s inevitable that other wolves will follow: Carter Niemeyer, Wolfland (Boise, ID: Bottlefly Press, 2016). Niemeyer is also quoted in the documentary film OR7—The Journey.

  But in March of 2016 remote cameras again picked up OR7: Laura Frazier, “OR-7 ‘Appears Well’ in First Sighting Since Failure of GPS Collar,” Oregonian, April 6, 2016.

  And his yea
rling pups were caught in a time-lapse video: Kelly House, “OR-7’s Yearling Pups Caught on Camera; Second Litter Has Been Born,” Oregonian, July 7, 2015; The Oregonian photo gallery of OR7s pups: Terry, “OR7: Biologists Confirm Oregon Wolf Has at Least 2 Pups,”

  USFW, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Humane Society: Zach Urness, “Oregon Wolf Killed by Poacher, $20,000 Reward Offered,” Statesman Journal, October 19, 2016.

  Along with news of OR28’s death, there are worries: Beckie Elgin, “Is Journey in Trouble?,” Wolves and Writing, October 13, 2016.

  California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife released: “Wolf Pup Video RC3 9 August 2015,” YouTube, September 4, 2015, https://youtu.be/Nj3pzWYOQ3s.

  “The return of the northern gray wolf is a welcome sign: “Welcome Back, Gray Wolf,” Los Angeles Times, August 25, 2015.

  Scientists wonder whether perhaps the wolves are establishing: Ben Orlove, “Did Glaciers Lure Wolves Back to California?” reprinted from GlacierHub in EarthSky Voices, August 28, 2015.

  It concludes with the telling statistic: Editorial Board, “Celebrate the Return of Wolves to California,” Press Democrat, March 26, 2016.

  The Nez Perce tribe, who, like the wolves, have lived: The Wolf Education and Research Center (WERC), Nez Perce Tribe, http://wolfcenter.org.

  Their newsletter, The Sawtooth Legacy, is required reading: “Howling for 20 Years,” Sawtooth Legacy Quarterly (WERC publication) (Winter 2016).

  In their weekly Radio Wild educational podcast series: Radio Wild, http://wolfcenter.org/site/learn/radiowild.html.

  CHAPTER 14. SHEEP HIGHWAY: COEXISTING WITH WOLVES

  “This has less to do with wolves and more about: Return to the Wild: A Modern Tale of Wolf & Man, documentary film, April 13, 2009, www.dailymotion.com/video/x8yx4j_return-to-the-wild-a-modern-tale-of_animals, 10:11 Suzanne Stone, 16:00 Doug Smith.

  After wolves reclaimed the landscape they accounted: “The Truth About Wolves and Livestock,” Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators, http://lordsofnature.org/documents/TheTruthAboutWolvesandLivestock.pdf.

  The Wood River Wolf Project has grown from 150 to 1,000: The Wood River Wolf Project, Facebook, www.facebook.com/woodriverwolfproject.

  Ranchers apply technology such as telemetry: “Nonlethal Deterrents,” Wood River Project, www.woodriverwolfproject.org/tools.

  These tools are part of the “Band Kits” that the project: “Livestock and Wolves Wood River Wolf Project,” Defenders of Wildlife, www.defenders.org/sites/default/files/publications/coexisting-with-wolves-in-idahos-wood-river-valley.pdf.

  Livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) are breeds like: “Our Guide to Training Pyr’s,” Milk and Honey Farm, www.milkandhoneyfarm.com/dogs/training.html; “Puppies, Livestock Guardian Dogs in Training,” YouTube, January 3, 2014, https://youtu.be/8mS8yia_z7M; “Working Livestock Guardian Dogs in Training (4 Months Old),” YouTube, August 6, 2013, https://youtu.be/nK_U89_xKDo; Jamie Penrith, “How to Stop a Dog from Chasing Sheep Using Professional Dog Training,” YouTube, March 23, 2013, https://youtu.be/CpdvFaXnvyg.

  These puppies are not raised to bond with humans: Jan Dohner, “I Just Brought Home a Livestock Guardian Dog. Now What?” Mother Earth News, August 18, 2016.

  Everyone was keenly aware that right over the border: Nicholas Geranios, “State Learns Sad Lesson with Wedge Pack Wolf Hunt,” Seattle Times, October 7, 2012.

  Calling the lethal removal a “last resort”: Becky Kramer, “Killing Washington Wolf Pack Cost $77,000,” Spokesman-Review, Seattle Times blogs, November 14, 2012, http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2012/11/killing-washington-wolf-pack-cost-77000.

  Stone criticized Peavey for letting pregnant ewes: Becky Kramer, “Wolf Project Shows Promise for Sheep Herds, Wolf Pack,” Spokesman-Review, December 18, 2012.

  By October Baldeon and the field technicians marched: Ibid.

  Field and staff volunteers for the Wood River Wolf Project: Fernando Najera, “Home on the Range: A Day in the Life of the Wood River Wolf Project, Where Wolves and Livestock Share the Landscape,” Defenders of Wildlife, October 28, 2014, www.defendersblog.org/2014/10/home-range; “Overview of the Wood River Wolf Project,” Information Guidelines, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56f46eb48259b5654136fce5/t/570ebca027d4bd2e542f8b44/1460583600972/WRWP+Volunteer+Protocol.pdf.

  In most instances it hasn’t taken much to keep wolves away: Return to the Wild, documentary film.

  The Lava Lake Institute was founded in 1999: “Conservation Efforts at Lava Lake Ranch,” Lava Lake Lamb, www.lavalakelamb.com/lava-lake-story/conservation/#1456419265805-c5259435-4e30.

  But when they needed to use their land again so as not to overgraze: Kramer, “Wolf Project Shows Promise for Sheep Herds, Wolf Pack.”

  Stevens concluded, “The goal was not just to keep the sheep safe: Ibid.

  Once again helicopters right across the border in Washington were searching: Alex Johnson, “Washington to Kill 11 of State’s 90 Endangered Gray Wolves for Preying on Cows,” NBC News, August 23, 2016, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/washington-kill-11-state-s-90-endangered-gray-wolves-preying-n636851; press coverage of Profanity Peak pack wolf killings: Kale Williams, “Entire Washington Wolf Pack to be Killed After Attacks on Cattle,” Oregonian/Oregon Live, August 23, 2016; Rich Landers, “Profanity Peak Wolf Pack to be Exterminated After Cattle Kills,” Spokesman-Review, August 20, 2016; “Lethal Action to Protect Sheep from Huckleberry Wolf Pack FAQ,” WDFW, http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/huckleberry_faq.html; Emily Schwing, “Authorized Wolf Killings Already Underway in Washington State,” NPR/KUOW Seattle, August 25, 2016, http://kuow.org/post/authorized-wolf-killings-already-underway-washington-state; “WDFW to Remove Profanity Peak Wolf Pack,” Stevens County Cattlemen, August 5, 2016, https://stevenscountycattlemen.com/2016/08/06/wdfw-to-remove-profanity-pack.

  The highly unpopular kill orders for the entire Profanity Peak pack: Jamie Rappaport Clark, “Defenders of Wildlife: Protecting and Recovering Wolves,” Huffington Post, August 26, 2016.

  Wolf advocacy groups who had signed on to the WAG protocol: Daniel Person, “Why Not All Wolf Advocates Oppose Killing the Profanity Peak Pack,” Seattle Weekly, August 25, 2016.

  As the Seattle Times noted, Washington “faces backlash: “Washington State Faces Backlash on All Sides Over Wolf Killings,” NPR/KUOW.org, August 26, 2016, http://kuow.org/post/washington-state-faces-backlash-all-sides-over-wolf-killings.

  For these longtime wolf advocates—as well as the others: “Tenino’s Wolf Haven Among Groups Promoting Dialogue Over State’s Plan to Kill Wolves,” Chronicle, August 25, 2016.

  A Cowlitz tribal leader from Protect the Wolves: Seerat Chabba, “Proposed Wolf Killings in Washington Spark Outrage Amongst Conservation Groups, Tribes,” International Business Times, August 26, 2016.

  The Seattle Times had just broken a front-page story citing: Lynda Mapes, “Profanity Peak Wolf Pack in State’s Gun Sights After Rancher Turns Out Cattle on Den,” Seattle Times, August 25, 2016.

  He concluded that the killing of cows by: Mapes, “Profanity Peak Wolf Pack in State’s Gun Sights After Rancher Turns Out Cattle on Den.”

  Washington State University then immediately issued: Robert Strenge, “WSU Statement Clarifying Comments on Wolf Pack,” WSU News, August 31, 2016.

  Amidst death threats to both WDFW officials and ranchers: Alison Morrow, “Wolf Pack Killing Prompts Death Threats,” King 5 News, August 30, 2016, www.king5.com/tech/science/environment/wolf-pack-killing-prompts-death-threats/310874679.

  WDFW’s Donny Mortarello had publicly defended: Lynda Mapes, “Claim That Rancher Turned Out Wolves on Den Untrue, WSU Says,” Seattle Times, August 31, 2016.

  In an interview with the local television station Mortarello: Tracy Staedter, “Washington Wolf Cull Won’t Save Livestock: Study,” Seeker, September 9, 2016.

  Stevens County Cattlemen’s website headline: Heather Smith Thomas, “Dealing with Wolves,” Progressive Cattleman, February 24, 2016.
<
br />   This deeper tension between states’ rights and the feds: Don Jenkins, “Washington County Authorizes Action Against Wolves,” Capital Press, August 19, 2016

  “Thumbing your nose at state law doesn’t engender: “Conservationists Express Outrage That Entire Pack of Wolves, 12 Percent of State Population, to Be Killed for Preying on Livestock on Public Lands,” Center for Biological Diversity, August 24, 2016.

  “Public lands have to be managed differently: Carter Niemeyer quoted in Lynda Mapes, “Death Threats, New Conflict Over Killing of Wolves,” Seattle Times, August 30, 2016.

  New research has shown that the Washington wolf cull: Adrian Treves, “Predator Control Should Not Be a Shot in the Dark,” research study by Miha Krofel, Jeannine McManus, Ecological Society of America, http://faculty.nelson.wisc.edu/treves/pubs/Treves_Krofel_McManus.pdf%20.

  Robert Crabtree, chief scientist and founder of Yellowstone: Ben Goldfarb, “No Proof That Shooting Predators Saves Livestock,” Science, September 7, 2016.

  The federal Wildlife Services, which kills millions: Darryl Fears, “This Little-Noticed Court Settlement Will Probably Save Millions of Animals,” Washington Post, October 13, 2016.

  Wolf advocates had held a rally in Washington’s state capital: “Wolf Advocates Rally in Olympia,” King 5 News, September 2, 2016, www.king5.com/news/wolf-advocates-rally-in-olympia/312751813.

  Other protesters said lethal removal is bad policy: “Protesters Rally to Stop Wolf Pack Killing,” King 5 News, September 2, 2016, www.king5.com/tech/science/environment/protesters-rally-to-stop-wolf-pack-killing/312724982.

  Wolves prefer to hunt wild game that is running away: Temple Grandin, “Experts Say Ranching Done Right Improves the Environment and Wildlife Habitat,” Beef Magazine, February 26, 2015; Lynda Mapes, “Profanity Peak Wolf Pack in State’s Gun Sights after Rancher Turns Out Cattle on Den; 6 Wolves Killed So Far,” Yakima Herald, August 26, 2016.

  Stone hopes that in response to this highly controversial culling: Beckie Elgin, “Washington vs. Wolves,” Wolves and Writing, August 25, 2016.