WISH COME TRUE

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR; YOUR WISH JUST MIGHT COME TRUE. AS FAR BACK AS 1974, THE MOVEMENT TO PRESERVE THE CALL OF THE WILD IN AMERICA WAS HEARD. ENDANGERED-SPECIES LEGISLATION WAS ENACTED BY CONGRESS AND SIGNED BY PRESIDENT NIXON WHEREBY THE WOLF COULD BE PLACED UNDER FEDERAL JURISDICTION BY THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT. IN 1993 I SUPPORTED THE WOLF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER IN KETCHUM, IDAHO BY ADOPTING A WOLF FROM THE SAWTOOTH WOLF PACK. I RECEIVED A WOLF SPONSORSHIP CERTIFICATE WHICH CERTIFIED THAT (YES, MY SANITY WAS INTACT) I WAS RECOGNIZED AS AN "OFFICIAL PROTECTOR OF THE GRAY WOLF WHICH INHABITS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS." MOTOMO, WHOSE NAME IN BLACKFOOT MEANS "HE WHO GOES FIRST," WAS A BLACK WOLF, BORN IN 1992, WITH "BIG FEET AND A BIG HEART." HIS PACK WAS FEATURED ON A DISCOVERY CHANNEL DOCUMENTARY CALLED "WOLVES AT OUR DOOR." MY MOTOMO IS PROBABLY "LONG DEAD AND GONE," BUT HIS KIND IS BACK AND WITHOUT VENGEANCE.

BY 1999, FOUR YEARS AFTER THEIR REINTRODUCTION INTO YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WOLVES HAD PROLIFERATED, REACHING APPROXIMATELY 300 INDIVIDUALS. TODAY ABOUT 1,000 WOLVES IN 140 PACKS LIVE IN MONTANA, IDAHO AND WYOMING. A MERE DECADE, THE LIFE SPAN OF A WOLF, HAS ELAPSED. BUT THE RISE IN NUMBERS HAS NOT ALWAYS MADE FOR A KINDER, GENTLER EXISTENCE FOR THE WOLVES. NATURE'S TOOTH AND CLAW IS EXPOSED AS WOLVES KILL EACH OTHER IN TERRITORIAL DISPUTES AND KILL DOMESTIC DOGS WHO INTERFERE WITH THEIR LIFESTYLE. ALSO, EAGER VACATIONERS NOW GO WEST TO GLIMPSE WHAT ONCE WAS A SHIBBOLETH OF FEAR AND TO EXPERIENCE A HOWL. STATE AGENCIES AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SUCH AS THE FISH, WILDLIFE AND PARKS DEPARTMENT OR DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME, "MANAGE WOLVES." THEY INSTRUCT VISITORS TO SCARE A WOLF AWAY BY YELLING, RUNNING AT IT OR PERHAPS USING PEPPER SPRAY, BUT "JUST DON'T HURT IT." ABUSE OF A WOLF WOULD RAISE A HOWL OF PROTEST.

A WRITER, PAUL ERRINGTON PROBABLY USED HYPERBOLE TO MAKE HIS POINT WHEN HE SAID, "WOLVES PRESENT THE GREATEST TEST OF HUMAN WISDOM AND GOOD INTENTIONS." LET'S HOPE THEIR RETURN REMAINS POSITIVE. IT CERTAINLY HAS BEEN PROFITABLE BOTH FOR MAN AND BEAST. A WOLF PACK'S HOWL, RAISED ON A CLEAR, COLD NIGHT, UNDOUBTEDLY, IS HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, AN UNEXPECTED GIFT. COYOTES HOWL TOO. I WAS GRACED WITH THEIR MUSIC ON TWO OCCASIONS. IT SUBSTITUTED AS A GHOSTLY VISIT FROM MY LONG, LOST MOTOMO.