Western Authors

“Comeback Wolves� Collects Writings of Ranchers, Predator Lovers

By Jenny Shank, 11-28-05

Last Monday in the Old Main Chapel on CU Campus, editor Gary Wockner and writers Pam Houston and Laura Pritchett discussed their contributions to the new book Comeback Wolves, in which fifty Western writers explore the idea of reintroducing wolves into the wilderness. According to Wockner, wolves have been reintroduced in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona. Colorado policy makers are currently contemplating bringing the animals here. Wockner, who holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Biology from CU and is a professor at Colorado State University, said he organized the collection with the “goal to create a forum for writers to speak out on the issue of wolf reintroduction.� He said that we usually hear from “journalists, scientists, and policy makers� on this subject, and “don’t often have a chance to hear from storytellers.�

Laura Pritchett, a fiction writer who grew up on a Colorado ranch and currently lives on a ranch outside of Ft. Collins, offered the rancher’s perspective on the issue of wolf reintroduction. (For a review of Pritchett’s most recent novel, see Sky Bridge by Laura Pritchett). Pritchett said that she feels part of her work is to “try to bridge the gap between environmentalists and ranchers.� She believes that “ranching is mainly a good thing if it’s done the right way,� because the big open spaces that ranching requires contribute to biodiversity. It’s important to encourage ranchers because “if ranches are economically viable and don’t go out of business, they are much less likely to go into development or be turned into ranchettes.� She read from her essay in Comeback Wolves, reflecting on the idea that a rancher’s main job is to husband the animals. Pritchett’s mother once demonstrated this commitment by administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to save a cow. She said that she’s seen an evolution her parents’ attitudes toward wildlife over the years. “Fox, coyotes, rattlesnakes, and prairie dogs used to be shot,� she said, but they aren’t anymore. “When a bear tore apart the beehives, my mom seemed a little happy for the bear.� But all ranchers share a deep need to protect their livestock and “a suspicion of the things that can come in and hurt.�

Pritchett said that many ranchers have mixed feelings about programs that offer compensation for wolf-killed livestock. “Many ranchers are mainly concerned that they’re losing good genetic material—when a calf dies it’s worth much more than the price it could bring at a sale.� She believes policy makers should come up with a “compensation formula that reflects this.� She also pointed out that some ranchers feel they’re treated with resentment, called “welfare ranchers,� when they approach administrators for compensation for wolf-killed livestock. Pritchett believes that if the compensation were offered with a “warmness� in a spirit of genuine apology for the ranchers’ losses, “things would change quite a bit.�

Pam Houston, whose views fall squarely in the wolf-lover camp, said that “for a writer, an artist, and maybe for a human being, the most important thing you can do is to pay strict attention. When I am in the wilderness with predators, it’s a requirement that I pay strict attention, which I think is probably how we’re meant to live.� Houston spent many years as a Dahl sheep hunting guide in Alaska, and she read from an essay about her first trip to Alaska in 1987, called “Opening Day on the Denali Highway.� Houston went for a drive on the highway after it had just been plowed for the spring, and said that “animals came in right behind the snowplows and used the road until June when the tourists came.� She saw a variety of animals that day, including a moose, a trumpeter swan, a wolverine, a porcupine, and a flock of ptarmigans, but the sight that made the deepest impression on her was that of the first wolf she’d ever glimpsed in the wild. She wrote of the black-furred wolf: “He was so much a dog, and so much more than a dog. He was a dog raised to the 9th degree.� Houston said that “my impression was that Alaska was one of the healthiest wilderness environments I’ve ever seen, and I believe it’s because they have predators.�

Houston told a funny story to illustrate her point about the importance of predators. She divides her time between Colorado and California, where she directs the creative writing program of UC Davis. “I’ve tried to love the Sierras, but I’ve failed because I’m a Rocky Mountain snob.� She said that “when hiking alone in Colorado, about one out of a hundred encounters makes me nervous, and when hiking alone in California, that number is one in three.� She described a hike in California on which she passed “crystal meth shacks, guys in prison suits, and a guy in a wife beater� who shouted rude comments at her. The last man approached her and dropped his pants. “I didn’t want to run because it would attract predators, but I moved at a clip, then started to trot, and all of the sudden a very large mountain lion jumped out in front of me.� Houston said she tried to hold her ground but not challenge the animal, and the mountain lion went around her and walked up the trail. “I like to think,� Houston said, “that the lion went after the naked man.� She summed up her story with a conclusion: “If you’re going to die, how much better to die at the hands of the mountain lion than at the hands of the naked man.�

Wockner discussed the current status of the reintroduction of the wolf in Colorado. He sat on the committee that came up with a Colorado migratory wolf management plan, and all on the committee agreed that wolves from other states should be allowed to migrate into Colorado. The discussion of reintroduction was more “contentious,� but Wockner believes that wolves will be reintroduced here within three to ten years. He believes that Coloradoans for the most part support wolf reintroduction, because “there’s more of a ‘new West’ atmosphere here, and more people are interested in contributing money to the cause.� He asked the audience to participate in drawing the wolves to Colorado. “In Boulder we have a lot of dumb, tame mule deer that could use some re-wilding,� he said, then asked everyone in the audience to howl like wolves to draw the animals forward. Most people obliged.

All the royalties from “Comeback Wolves� go to the Defenders of Wildlife's “proactive carnivore conservation fund.�

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