Читать книгу The Rise of Wolf 8 - Rick McIntyre - Страница 9

FOREWORD

AMERICA’S WILDNESS HAS always fed our souls and inspired our dreams. For many, wolves are the undisputed icons of nature, independence, and freedom. For others, wolves are considered a threat to livestock, their families, and their future.

Writer and biologist Rick McIntyre has a compelling story to tell. It begins in 1926, when park rangers shot the last of these apex predators in Yellowstone. Few people at the time mourned the loss.

Yet as wolves continued a sharp decline throughout the US (eventually landing them on the threatened and endangered species list), a movement took hold, and thirty-one wolves were eventually reintroduced back into the park in the mid-1990s. Decades later this bold wildlife restoration is considered the most successful ever undertaken.

McIntyre picks up the tale from there, sharing his journey of passion and dedication, adventure and perseverance, as he observed these packs returning to their native lands. He has spent those years hiking into the backcountry, filling thousands of pages with meticulous notes, and setting up roadside scopes for travelers from all over the world who have come to see and learn more about these creatures.

In particular wolf 8, one of the very first to roam free, captures his attention and his heart, and grows into the main character in this narrative.

Through McIntyre’s eyes, we witness and learn about wolves as unique individuals living with breathtaking intensity—and it’s impossible not to be awed by their loyalties to each other, keen intelligence, and will to survive.

Given this intimate portrait, and the controversy that continues to surround wolves, we’re left to wonder how to balance their important role in the ecosystem with the interests of people whose lives they cross when they step beyond the protection of the park.

There are no easy answers, but I believe also that there is no limit to human ingenuity if we are truly seeking solutions. Information and data are vital, but so are stories that help us empathize with wolves. Both can inspire and inform decisions for the future. This terrific book presents them side by side and gives us the chance to decide for ourselves . . . itself a sacred act of American freedom.

ROBERT REDFORD

Sundance, Utah