YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

“…A country without wolves isn’t really good country, its incomplete – it doesn’t have its full spirit,” said Yellowstone biologist, Doug Smith, during an interview last year with NPR’s Snap Judgement, about wolves, specifically about the life and death of a famous Yellowstone wolf, 832F, or 06.

I set up my cheap scope and pointed it on the high, snow covered hill where I had last seen the wolves and there stood a black pup, wearing a GPS collar, watching something below.  Briefly, its father, also wearing a GPS collar, appeared on the hill before fading away.

A van pulled in and visitors rushed out to see if I had found a wolf.

“My first wolf in the wild,” a woman exclaimed while looking through my scope.

These days nothing beats the satisfaction of helping people fulfill their dream of seeing a wild wolf while visiting Yellowstone National Park (YNP).

Twenty years ago, on January 12, 1995, 14 wild wolves from Canada were brought through the North Entrance of YNP and taken to heavily guarded acclimation pens where they were held until their release back into the wild, not far from where the last two wolves were shot by rangers, back in 1926.

I try to think back to where I was twenty years ago.  Had I even vaguely been aware of the reintroduction of the wolves and did I care?  I am thinking that Wyoming and YNP felt a million miles away from North Carolina where I had just gone through my third divorce and was in the process of retiring from police work after sustaining an on the job injury that never healed properly.

But, also, as I think back, on what felt like some tough luck, as everything I had ever known or ever been faded into my past, it is apparent that those things were leaving so that my true life journey could begin.

Oh, I kicked, screamed, cried, felt sorry for myself, tried to restart my life doing many things I was not meant to do.  I suffered more injuries, multiple surgeries, was nearly killed by doctors three times and they had to fight to save my life, moved, hiked, worked menial jobs and did anything to distract myself from the beginnings of following my heart.

And then one day I had embarked on a solo travel journey, with a 1974 17’ travel trailer to live in.  I wanted to take photos and write stories, because by that time I had discovered my true passion, which was capturing nature in images and words.  The focus of my journey was national parks and in order to stay for long periods of time I volunteered for Yosemite and North Cascades.

And, then, one winter I ended up in Yellowstone to learn about the wolves.  I wanted to know why they were hated so much and if the stories about them were true.  And, so I decided to spend 6 months in nice but inexpensive winter housing right outside of Yellowstone, which gave me access to the park every day.

I could, and will, write volumes about my experiences since arriving in Yellowstone, 2.5 years ago (yes, I forgot to leave) but for now will just say that most of the wolf horror stories I had been told were not true.  And, so, because so many lies were being told about an animal that is clearly essential to our eco-system I stayed to tell their truth by chronicling their days.

On January 12, 2015, a 20 year anniversary celebration was held at the Roosevelt Arch at YNP where people stood to watch the wolves return 20 years ago.  Several members of the original reintroduction team were present to celebrate the milestone.

I could not be here 20 years ago, nor did I even care that wolves were being reintroduced.  But, I am here today, fighting right alongside many fine people who are trying to save their lives by educating one person at a time with the truth.

Doug Smith is still the biologist in charge of the wolf project and he was present at the ceremony, which was put on by Defenders of Wildlife.

Smith was hired at Yellowstone National Park in 1994 to help with the reintroduction of the wolves.

“And so when I got to Yellowstone in 1994 I walked the landscape and it felt flat, dull.  Without wolves it just didn’t crackle,” Smith said.  “You get this feeling that you get no other place, when you are on a landscape that has wolves.”

Twenty years to the day when the first 14 wolves were transported through the North Gate of YNP, in Gardiner, MT., Smith stood in a pullout in the Little America portion of the park, with his eyes glued to a scope and a smile as big and bright as anyone who is new to the park and seeing wolves for the first time.

Wolf drama played out all about Smith and numerous visitors, many of whom were here to attend the anniversary celebration later in the morning and who had never before seen a wolf.

One woman stared into a scope, unable to see anything, until her eyes adjusted to the black and gray shapes that moved about in the sagebrush on the other side of the Lamar River.  She screamed.  “Oh my God! OH OH OH…” she was so excited that the words just would not come out.  Ten minutes later the woman was seeing even more wolves and still could only scream her excitement.

Smith was not screaming but, before he recognized me, he began to excitedly tell me about all of the great wolf activity that he had already witnessed.  Two wolves, 911 and 970 had been close to the pullout.  Across the river were 11 Prospect Peak wolves.  “It doesn’t get any better than this,” he said.  A line I have heard often from his employee, Rick McIntyre, the biological technician and wolf guru story teller of Yellowstone.

Wolves were howling in every direction and my head was spinning, trying to locate the animals.  One, 970, was howling from behind us but I could not see her.  Another, grey yearling 969, howled close by and crossed the road to go towards 970.  Another howl came from Specimen Ridge but I never saw the wolf.  Three wolves, 911, 968 and probably 907, were on top of Junction Butte, the landmark that their pack was named for.  They were looking over the edge at the 11 Prospect Peak wolves – 3 blacks were missing today.

For some reason the Prospect wolves began to slowly move off, to the west, following each other in a single file line.  And then something bizarre happened.  The black GPS collared female pup, 968, went tearing down Junction Butte towards the Lamar River and where the Prospects had been.  She was quickly followed by the other two and they disappeared into the trees.  I wondered what would make them run in the direction of the rival pack, led by a pup of all things.  Later, I remembered that someone said that there had been a wolf on wolf chase and wondered if perhaps the Junction Butte gray pup had been down there.  Or, the gray yearling male.  969 is quite fond of his gray sister – the only gray pup left after rival wolves killed the other 2 gray siblings.  So, my guess is that he was going to retrieve his sister.

What most people did not know as they watched all of the wolves this morning, and listened to them howl, was that the interaction was a part of an ongoing territorial dispute begun weeks ago by the Prospects, who have essentially taken over Junction Butte territory.  The visitors did not know the story but they were seeing and hearing wolves, something that would not have happened if those first 14 wolves had not come into YNP 20 years ago.

And, so, as the anniversary celebration began, led by Suzanne Asha Stone, of Defenders of Wildlife, began, Smith, obviously still excited about the wolf action he had witnessed, was the first to speak.

“I try not to be superstitious or mythological, but I think that the wolves did all of the work this morning.  That was one of the better appearances in weeks, I understand,” Smith told the crowd.  “Twenty years ago, that was not possible, and now it is and wolves are across the Northern Rockies and that’s important, but so is Yellowstone.”

As Carter Niemeyer, author of Wolfer, said, wolves are expanding into Washington, Oregon and California so, “We aren’t done yet.”

And, thus begins the telling of the stories of the Yellowstone wolves.