Cheyenne's Howl

Printed in Mountain Messenger on Friday January 31, 1997

Re-Introduction

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Most of you know that wolves have been reintroduced in the Northern Rockies. This was done in central Idaho and in Yellowstone National Park on January 12, 1995. This has helped to restore a natural and dynamic balance to that wild land. There are plans to restore that balance to other areas as well.

One of the places is the Adirondack Park in upstate New York. It covers over six million acres and is larger than Yellowstone, Glacier, Olympic, and Everglades National Parks all combined. Efforts to reintroduce the eastern timber, or better known as the gray wolf, to this area are being done for two main reasons. First, we wolves will naturally control over-abundant species such as coyotes and beavers, and second, for a wild habitat to truly be considered healthy, it must have its top predator.

Many ranchers are concerned about us having beef steak for dinner. Just so none of you get mad at me, I just want to remind you that I get all of my beef at Safeway. It is a lot easier as I do not have to chase that darn cow, and that way I don't get into trouble. Just in case one of my relatives, and I've heard that there are some "shady" ones on my Dads side, do cross over the line and have beef steak for dinner, there is a trust set up to pay the rancher. This Wolf Compensation Trust is a $100,000 fund put up by a not for profit organization known as Defenders of Wildlife. They will pay a rancher for livestock that have been taken by wolves. Just a thought, but I wonder if Safeway would give me a discount if I told them I wanted a $100,000 worth of steaks? Would they accept a check with my paw print signature?

If any of you have questions about wolves, write to me, Cheyenne, c/o Mountain Messenger or send to me direct at Visions West Gallery, PO Box 984, Silver Plume, CO., 80476.

DID YOU KNOW?

*The Endangered Species Act is not permanent. It must be re-authorized.

*Wolves are shy, submissive animals. There has never been a documented case in North America where a healthy wild wolf has ever attacked a human.

In closing I would like to say "Hello" to Uncle Jerome "Wolf in the Shadow" Heywood. He may not be as good looking as me, but he is my favorite Uncle.

Cheyenne