Geos 220
Writing Assignment
Re-introduction of the Wolf in the Southwest
We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. … I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunter's paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view. Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac Scientific Articles
Here are scientific texts to read and cite in your paper. Start with these, but feel free to find other sciencey articles if you're so motivated.
Note #1: The pdf password for these articles is the same as for other course materials.
Note #2: For the purpose of efficiently inputting text into your References Cited section, you may copy text inside the brackets and paste into your document file. This is the only copy-and-pasting allowed in this assignment.
- [Leopold, Aldo. 1944. Review of, The wolves of North America, by Stanley P. Young and Edward A. Goldman. Journal of Forestry 42(12):928-929.] In this review of someone else's book about wolves, Leopold admits changing his mind on the wolf. Flip-flopper, or sage? Leopold also makes a point about self-regulation of top predators.
- [Leopold, Aldo. 1949. Thinking like a mountain. A Sand County Almanac.] Here it is, the original green fire text of Leopold. A Sand County Almanac is, by broad consensus, essential reading on conservation and the notion of a land ethic. Rent the dvd sometime.
- [Evans, G.W. 1951. Wolf cunning. Slash Ranch Hounds.] OK, this author hated the wolf, unabashedly. Fine. This text can be cited as an example of hatred for the wolf. However, please don't pin hatred of the wolf onto this or any other single person in particular. This is just representative of one feeling about the wolf. It's the feeling that is important, not the person who feels it.
- [Brown, D.E. 1983a. The long and dismal howl. Pp. 13-25, The Wolf in the Southwest: The Making of an Endangered Species.] A short overview of the historical occurrence of the wolf in the Southwest.
- [Brown, D.E. 1983b. And none shall remain: destruction of the wolf. Pp. 31-41, The wolf in the Southwest: The Making of an Endangered Species.] A short overview of extirpating (killing) wolves in the Southwest. Caution: Graphic details can be unsettling.
- [Gipson, P. 1995. Wolf Literature: A Credibility Gap. Pp. 345-353, The War of the Wolf.] An assessment of the believeability of written accounts of wolves killing livestock.
- [Schoenecker, K.A., and Shaw, W.W. 1997. Attitudes toward a proposed re-introduction of Mexican gray wolves in Arizona. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 2(3):42-55.] A survey of human attitudes towards wolves in the communities surrounding the wolf re-introduction site in Arizona. Also provides citeable information about human concerns and possible reasons for opposing or supporting the re-introduction of the Mexican wolf.
- [Parsons, D.R. 1998. "Green fire" returns to the Southwest: re-introduction of the Mexican wolf. Wildlife Society Bulletin 26(4):799-807.] Background on the natural history, population status, and the recovery status of the Mexican wolf. Additionally, environmental, sociopolitical, and legal topics about the Mexican wolf and the plan for re-introduction.
- [Gipson, P.S., ballard, W.B., and Nowak, R.M. 1998. Famous North American wolves and the credibility of early wildlife literature. Wildlife Society Bulletin 26(4):808-816.] A dispassionate analysis of historical accounts of notorious wolves attacking livestock.
- [Martin, P.S., and Burney, D.A. 1999. Bring back the elephants. Wild Earth, Spring 1999:57-64.] Theory behind re-introduction of the elephant to the Southwest. Similar concepts apply to re-introducing the wolf.
- [Soulé, M.E., and Terbough, J. 1999. Conserving nature at regional and continental scales—a scientific program for North America. Bioscience 49(10):809-817.] The role of large predators (keystone species) in ecosystems and the top-down regulation of ecosystems.
- [Brown, W.M.; Parsons, D.R. 2001. Restoring the Mexican gray wolf to the mountains of the southwest. In: Large Mammal Restoration: Ecological and Sociological Challenges in the 21st Century, The Wildlife Society.] An overview of the program to restore the Mexican gray wolf to the American Southwest.
- [Williams, C.K., G. Ericsson, and T.A. Heberlein. 2002. A quantitative summary of attitudes toward wolves and their reintroduction (1972–2000). Wildlife Society Bulletin 30(2):575-584.] Another study of public opinion about wolf re-introduction.
- [Schneberger, Laura. 2002. Caught between the pack and the hard case. A private essay.] A representative viewpoint of ranchers. Once again, don't pin this viewpoint onto this or any other single person in particular. It's the viewpoint that is important, transcending the people who express it.
- [Rodriguez, M., Krausman, P.R., Ballard, W.B., Villalobos, C., and Shaw, W.W. 2003. Attitudes of Mexican citizens about wolf translocation in Mexico. Wildlife Society Bulletin 31(4):971-979.] Opinions of Mexicans about re-introduction of the wolf into Mexico.
- [Weisiger, M.L. 2004. The debate over El Lobo: Can historians make a difference? The Public Historian 26(1):123-144.] A review of a conference on re-introduction of the wolf into the Southwest. This conference included all sides. Is there common ground? (Note: don't bog down in the details of conference planning.)
- [Lynch, T. 2005. Re-wilding the West. In: El Lobo: Readings on the Mexican Gray Wolf.] An opening statement about re-introduction of the wolf and this book.
- [National Geographic Magazine. March, 2010. Wolf Wars.] Wolf reintroduction in the Northern Rockies.
- [Wrabley, R.B. 2011. Showdown at Catron: Cows, wolves, and the ecology of public lands policies. Natural Resources Journal 51:119-161.] A lengthy summary of opposition to re-introduction of the wolf into Catron County, NM. Start on page 132, and don't bog down in legal text, but also don't miss the ray of hope for common ground (pages 154 and 157).
- [USDA. 2011. Cattle Death Loss.] An agency report with numbers about loss of cows due to predators. Check out the very first page.
- [Johnson, T.B. 2014. Mexican gray Wolf. Arizona Wildlife Views, Arizona Game and Fish Department.] A 1-page summary of the ecology of the Mexican gray wolf.
- [Chase, L. 2014. Tug-of-war conservation. Arizona Wildlife Views, Arizona Game and Fish Department.] A 1-page op-ed on the debate about the Mexican gray wolf.
- [Hammonds, J. 2014. Misconceptions about wolves. Arizona Wildlife Views, Arizona Game and Fish Department.] A 3-page FAQ sheet clarifying issues about the Mexican gray wolf.
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