Though it is always a pleasure to read about new and exciting places that I might like to travel to someday, it is even more of a joy for me to read stories set in places I've visited before. Many of the stories that Carter Niemeyer tells in Wolf Land are like that, vignettes from the wild places of Idaho and Montana that make me exclaim, "Ah, I've been there!" What I haven't done, however, is to track down wolf packs, listen to their mournful calls, or see them playing in the meadows of the Idaho back country. Some day, perhaps.
In Wolfer, we got the story of how Carter came to the task of reintroducing wolves into the lower 48 after they had been driven to extinction - deliberately some years past, but in Wolf Land we can enjoy some thought-provoking tales about the long term effects of the interaction between wolves and men. When wolves stray out of the ranges where they were introduced, they often get into trouble because, as predators, they like to feed on easy targets, such as sheep and cow herds which are often grazed on federal lands, which make up a huge percentage of some of our Western states. When the wolves get out of line, then Carter was often called in to trap them, and either transport them back to where they belong, or sometimes make the decision to kill them, if nothing else worked.
From Yellowstone to the Frank Church Wilderness, through the Sawtooths and the headwaters of the Snake and Salmon rivers, Carter relates the stories of his interactions with one of the most controversial and fascinating animals of our time. The book may not make you change your mind about whether reintroduction was the right thing to do or not, but it will surely make you think a bit differently about the subject, no matter which side you're on.
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