Wolves Belong

As morning light arrives just behind the hills of Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, a distant song greets the gathering crowd. A hundred determined watchers bearing scopes and their trusty cameras line one plateau and another, eager to catch their first glimpse of the mysterious vocalists. Soon, whispered cries of joy begin — the Junction Butte pack is here and howling!  

Two, three, then four grey wolves in shades of tan, black, and dusty silver run into view and then disperse between patches of sagebrush. Like a crew of your hungry relatives meeting up at the local diner for breakfast, they take turns greeting and jostling each other before crossing the open field to check out the day’s offerings. More join their company, and soon small groups form constellations in the center of our binoculars — 11 shining stars to the crew of overjoyed, albeit freezing, observers.   

Adjusting the focus of our lenses, our eyes find the familiar face of a Yellowstone legend: alpha female 907. As the leader of her pack and an elder wolf of 11 years, 907’s resilience fascinates scientists and visitors alike as she continues to thrive and raise pups. She moves along with the pack today, a little slower perhaps than she once did – but with no less gravitas. Pausing in the middle of a grassy plateau, younger packmates approach her one by one, each raising their snout to meet hers in a sign of respect. Most of our mothers would expect no less.

 

The pack journeys northward across the many-tiered meadow, navigating between herds of bison and swooping ravens, covering the distance quickly in an organized formation. Meanwhile, in our own neat rows, today’s crew of wolf watchers remains entranced as they do by the tens of thousands every year.   

Wildlife enthusiasts, photographers, advocates, and curious observers of every kind travel from around the world for moments like this. These are the everyday movements of a small group of canines, and yet — they hold something much deeper. Beyond their irreplaceable ecological value, wolves call to the wildness within each of us. To witness them roam is to know a precious, ancient pattern remains in a world where such accounts feel lost to history. But to be honest — they came close.   

Though the morning held merely a hearty group outing for the Junction wolves, their lives and freedom remain on the knife’s edge. Twenty miles north, where gates and wooden signs welcome geyser-seeking waves of visitors, wolves are met with a very different reception. Beyond park borders, vital protections creating the only path forward for the species’ survival fall away, replaced with a terrible thirst for lupine blood.  

Fewer than 200 wolves remain in the Yellowstone region, yet every year, there are those keeping sharp eyes on the park’s border, waiting for any opportunity to seize a wolf for their own trophy collection. In 2022, hunters killed 25 pack members — 20% of Yellowstone’s population. These kills were not the result of any conflict with ranching or humans, but rather as a part of Montana and Idaho’s legal sanctions for wolf hunting — 20 per person every year in Montana, unlimited in Idaho. And without stronger federal protections, this will continue, with dire impacts on the already scant population.   

To paraphrase something Rick McIntyre, world-renowned wolf interpreter and author of the best-selling Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series, shared with me over a pair of scopes last weekend: Isn’t it ironic that a single Yellowstone grey wolf, worth $850,000+ annually in tourist earnings alone, could be killed for the price of a single $150 hunting permit just outside the slim lines of its own neighborhood?* 

*and for even less in other places… 

The next day, Story Warren (my friend, fellow Oregon Wildlife Coalition member, and long-time wolf advocate for wolves) and I enter the park early once again, eyes and ears open for any signs of our favorite roaming carnivores. After tracking two group howls from one overlook to the next, we spot a coyote cheerily toting its breakfast burrito — er, deer flank — up from a riverbed and into the forest above. Taking a break to observe the area and chat with fellow watchers, a sudden movement catches our eyes: “Wolf!” we cry as a lone black yearling arrives in the basin just below our post. With nimble strides, the healthy young male (a member of the Rescue pack, I later learn) cuts an impressive figure as it forges ahead in the mid-morning light.  

 

He will spend the next few months hunting, exploring, and becoming a powerful adult wolf in his own right, perhaps supporting his family of origin or starting a pack of his own. But this fate, even the hope for a young wolf to reach maturity, rests only partially in his capable paws. To survive at all outside the confines of Yellowstone, he must evade hunters at every corner, dodge landowners unwilling to coexist and flee at all costs from Wildlife Services, the federal agency 1) licensed to kill hundreds of thousands of native animals every year, 2) with anything from traps and cyanide canisters to shooting them from a helicopter, and 3) even without evidence of livestock predation. The stakes are high, and his chances slim — but he’ll never give up the fight for his existence out here on the western horizon. And we’re not giving up either.   

At WELC, our team has been working for decades to achieve better protections for wolves across the country. We’re combating the lethal tactics of Wildlife Services and finding ways to steer ranchers toward effective coexistence strategies. We’re continuing to build on the 2022 legal victory that restored protections for wolves in their historic range—other than the northern Rockies wolves which Congress delisted in 2011. Because that win is on appeal and therefore tenuous, we filed litigation earlier this year to restore Endangered Species Act protections for wolves West-wide, which would include northern Rockies wolves. As we advance these cases, we are also actively defending wolf reintroduction efforts in Colorado as well as Mexican wolves as they slowly return to their native ranges in the Southwest. 

But with plans like Project 2025 directly targeting wolves for delisting across the lower 48 states, we need people like you on our side more than ever — wildlife enthusiasts, ecosystem defenders, or maybe just someone who doesn’t appreciate the needless destruction of a beautiful creature responsible for humanity’s best friend, Fido.  

As a public interest law firm, our work is made possible thanks to generous supporters like you. This year, donate by December 31st and your contribution will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $88,500 by our board of directors in our largest board match ever! 

 

If you’ve ever known and loved a dog, you’ve seen their emotions, intelligence, goofiness, and loyalty on a daily basis. Wolves are nothing less than dogs’ powerful cousins, equipped with equally unique personalities, intelligence, and devotion to family. Yet, humans choose to vilify them for their very instinctual behavior as carnivores, and for being good at what they do.  

Aside from substantial intrinsic and tourism values, gray wolves are really important parts of nature’s network, functioning as expert landscape managers. They balance wildlife populations which in turn shapes the landscape, supporting the evolution of healthy ungulates and curbing the impact of rampant grazing (this second effect then triggers better carbon storage capabilities for plants, as vegetation can more easily accumulate!) and spread of diseases from ungulates to domestic animals and human communities. They provide food for important carrion species, from ravens and eagles to foxes and endangered fishers, who are particularly impacted by the shorter winters fueled by climate change.   

And that’s just to name a few of gray wolves’ highly practical benefits to fellow species and the landscapes they call home. It’s long past time for us to return their good deeds by taking action and reminding the world: wolves belong. 

Here are a few ways to start: 

• Write a letter to your representative! It’s easier than you think. Simply state your name, where you live, and respectfully ask your rep to vote for policies that protect wolves from hunting and trapping. Then, add a sentence or two about why wolves matter to you personally. This could include: 1) Wolves are objectively family oriented, intelligent animals with unique personalities and should be protected, 2) As a top predator, wolves are an important species ecologically to many habitats and other species, 3) Nonlethal, proactive livestock husbandry strategies are far more effective at preventing conflict than randomly killing wolves, or 4) Wolves should not be freely hunted given their low population numbers in many of their historic ranges. Bonus points if it’s handwritten, but email is great too! Find your representative here or on your state legislature website. 
• If you live in or near wolf habitat, speak up to your local fish and wildlife agencies and their board/commission to advocate for positive wolf management and coexistence strategies! 
• Vote for representatives who care about climate and the biodiversity crisis. 
• Donate or volunteer to support the work of advocacy and conservation organizations protecting wolves across the country. In December, every gift made to WELC’s work will be DOUBLED up to $86,000 thanks to a special matching program!  
• Keep learning about wolves and their preservation! Read the Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series, learn more through the wide array of online resources available, or join a wildlife community science project near you. 

Let’s keep howling together for a livable future – for wildlife and for each other. 
– Suze Wehr, communications and advocacy associate