The Return of the Wolf: Reflections on the Future of Wolves in the Northeast (Middlebury Bicentennial Series in Environmental Studies)

Bys: John B. Theberge, Kristin Deboer, Rick Bass, et al.

Long after their eradication from almost all parts of the US, wolves still evoke a primal response, firing the imagination with admiration, awe, and dread. Efforts to restore them to Yellowstone,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874519675
• ISBN13: 9780874519679
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Middlebury College Pr
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Interesting essays in a disunified collection

Wild timber wolves were famously reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995, as well as to Central Idaho. Much less visibly, wolves continue to thrive in northern Minnesota, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and parts of Wisconsin. Even so, the species covers only a very small portion of its original range. Given the support of many Eastern environmentalists for wolf reintroduction out West, and the fact that Midwestern farmers do not object to wolves the way that Western ranchers do, the next natural move would be to reintroduce wolves to sparsely-populated areas in New England. Indeed, there is scattered evidence that they have already made their way there, braving the shipping channel of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the densely populated farm regions of southern Quebec. This book consists of four relatively unconnected essays on the topic of reintroducing wolves to the Northeast. The editor clearly gave each author the freedom to write his or her own essay, rather than divvying up topics more systematically. The resulting book is disunified, but the strengths of three of the four essays make up for this weakness. The first essay, by Bill McKibben, questions the shallow consumerism of North Americans and the role of wolves in that consumerism. He argued that we should not see them in terms of our "need" to "consume" wolves, but must instead learn to let them be for themselves. The second essay, by wolf researcher John Theberge, provides an ecological perspective on the topic. He emphasizes two issues: wolf-human interactions (humans are the leading cause of wolf mortality) and wolf-coyote hybridization. Both have been familiar topics in his own research, concentrated on the wolves of Algonquin Provincial Park at the edge of Canada's boreal forest. The third essay by Kristin DeBoer was the least successful in my mind. It's the most "poetic" of the four, using a style that doesn't call to me personally. Finally, "Vermont as Montana" by writer Rick Bass. He begins by imagining Vermont becoming like Montana, a place where wolves live. But then he reflects on the hostility of Montana to wolves, and the conservation ethic of many in Vermont, and imagines Montana becoming more like Vermont. As a transplant from the South to Montana's Yaak Valley, Bass certainly knows the Montanan perspective well, but I was not convinced that he really understood Vermont. If you are interested in wolves, and if you are interested in a more humanistic and literary perspective than the natural science and social science that dominates most books, you will find this book interesting. If you are not already interested in wolves, however, its lack of unity and mix of agendas may be puzzling to you. (In that case, see my wolf list for books better suited to your interest.)

Helping wolves

I believe this is a cause for restoration. This book made me believe that the wolf should be released in to the Adriondack mountians. It also had me believing that the ecosystem needs the wolves to survive. I was especially fascinated by Kristen Deboer's idea of creating corridors between parks in Canada ans the northeast, to help creat migratrion routes for animals. I believet he book itself aswell was ans informative, great, intertaining read.

Wol Restoration in the east

The Return of the Wolf is an eye-opener as it gives four very distinct and honest evaluations of the possibility of our northeastern forest communities welcoming the timber wolf back to it's native haunts. Let us not confuse the eastern coyote which has hybridized with the eastern wolf as the as the easts top canid predator.....The wolf, just as in Yellowstone and Minnesota is the true predator of the moose , Caribou Elk and Beaver. The coyote, even if hybridized with wolf genes is still not a large enough creature(maximum of 70 pounds whereas the true timber wolf can be 100-150 pounds)to bring down the northeasts growing moose population and hopefully one day a restored caribou herd. Let the voice of Rick Bass,Kristen DeBoer and Bill McKibben weigh heavy.......let us set aside the lands, educate the "Little Red Riding Hood" believers and politic effectively with the state house representatives who tend to buckle to the pressure of corporations who favor short term extraction versus long term sustainability. Give the wolves the chance to push the coyotes to their rightful "fringe" of the forest allowing the true timber wolf and restored(hopefully) Cougar to stand atop the food chain as top predators of the land. Our forests have returned after 400 years of being chopped and burned.Let us stop the shopping malls and second home developments from destroying our wonderful open lands.Let the land be restored to it's glory and allow the current residents of the backwoods to continue their sustainable forestry and wsoodcraft busines while reaping some benefits from a contrulled and managed Ecotourism. What a great thing for us to have the pomeans and will to return and restore our woodlands in the most populated part of the U.S. to their former majesty. We can be a model for the conservative western United States and the emerging 3rd world countries to emulate......The Return of the Wolf speaks of all of these things and more........Fantastic writing! Rivals Charles Little storytelling in the "Dying of the trees". Please pass on to a friend.......Let the restoration of the north woods begin!