1 00:00:18,953 --> 00:00:24,025 There is a place up north, far north. 2 00:00:24,058 --> 00:00:26,928 A place called Wolf country. 3 00:01:27,789 --> 00:01:29,524 When I heard that wolves had been removed 4 00:01:29,558 --> 00:01:31,626 from the endangered species list, 5 00:01:31,660 --> 00:01:35,630 after 40 years of protection, I was surprised. 6 00:01:35,664 --> 00:01:37,432 As I knew we only had a few thousand wolves 7 00:01:37,466 --> 00:01:39,601 left in the country. 8 00:01:39,634 --> 00:01:41,570 And it troubled me that we were still 9 00:01:41,603 --> 00:01:43,672 so divided in our thinking 10 00:01:43,705 --> 00:01:47,342 about this highly intelligent species. 11 00:01:47,376 --> 00:01:49,978 So I decided to travel to places 12 00:01:50,011 --> 00:01:52,447 where they still could be found 13 00:01:52,481 --> 00:01:56,050 and talk to people who knew and studied them, 14 00:01:56,084 --> 00:01:58,753 and somehow try to understand why 15 00:01:58,787 --> 00:02:01,890 there were those who still feared and misunderstood them. 16 00:02:10,632 --> 00:02:13,034 Wow, it's a beautiful day. 17 00:02:13,067 --> 00:02:15,470 And we're headed up to northern Minnesota 18 00:02:15,504 --> 00:02:18,440 to go see Jim Brandenburg. 19 00:02:18,473 --> 00:02:20,709 Jim Brandenburg has been photographing 20 00:02:20,742 --> 00:02:23,678 and writing about wolves for over 45 years. 21 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,383 He's known all over the world for his study of wolves. 22 00:02:30,852 --> 00:02:33,021 This is a really unique area that we're going to. 23 00:02:33,054 --> 00:02:37,091 It's... it's actually called wolf country, 24 00:02:37,125 --> 00:02:42,163 and where Jim lives, it borders on the boundary waters canoe area, 25 00:02:42,196 --> 00:02:44,866 which has a million acres of pure wilderness. 26 00:02:47,802 --> 00:02:50,839 Being out here, it's very different from where I grew up. 27 00:02:50,872 --> 00:02:52,574 You can see all kinds of wildlife. 28 00:02:52,607 --> 00:02:54,142 You can see eagles, 29 00:02:54,175 --> 00:02:57,546 and if you're lucky, you might even see a wolf. 30 00:03:01,516 --> 00:03:03,752 This is northern Minnesota. 31 00:03:03,785 --> 00:03:07,622 It definitely takes a unique and hearty person 32 00:03:07,656 --> 00:03:08,957 to live out here. 33 00:03:31,613 --> 00:03:33,682 Everybody's up here for a different reason. 34 00:03:33,715 --> 00:03:37,185 My reason was to be close to the wilderness and to photograph wolves. 35 00:03:37,218 --> 00:03:38,919 Or to see wolves, I didn't have to photograph them, 36 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,923 I just want to be around them. 37 00:03:41,956 --> 00:03:44,526 And it evolved, it took me years, 38 00:03:44,559 --> 00:03:46,928 many, many years to get some decent photographs, 39 00:03:46,961 --> 00:03:49,898 so it wasn't a practical consideration, 40 00:03:49,931 --> 00:03:54,035 it wasn't a job, or a career move 41 00:03:54,068 --> 00:03:55,637 to come up here and photograph wolves, 42 00:03:55,670 --> 00:03:58,807 and do posters and do books and do movies. 43 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,143 It was just an intuitive fire inside of me. 44 00:04:24,032 --> 00:04:26,901 I got into photographing wolves and telling their story 45 00:04:26,935 --> 00:04:29,904 because I thought they were the most persecuted animal in the world. 46 00:04:29,938 --> 00:04:33,842 More than lions, more than tigers, 47 00:04:33,875 --> 00:04:36,545 I really believe the wolf... the wolf's reputation 48 00:04:36,578 --> 00:04:40,214 is worst, misplaced reputation of any animal in the world. 49 00:04:40,248 --> 00:04:42,851 And I thought, there's a story. 50 00:04:51,092 --> 00:04:53,895 1968, 51 00:04:53,928 --> 00:04:58,032 about a mile from here, I was walking with my camera, 52 00:04:58,066 --> 00:05:03,772 Nikon F manual exposure with a 300-millimeter lens, 53 00:05:03,805 --> 00:05:06,741 snowshoes, on lake Juan 54 00:05:06,775 --> 00:05:10,144 at the end of the Fernwood trail, which is right here, 55 00:05:10,178 --> 00:05:13,815 I saw a wolf before it saw me. 56 00:05:13,848 --> 00:05:16,885 I fell down onto the ice and the snow, 57 00:05:16,918 --> 00:05:18,720 crouching, thinking maybe, maybe 58 00:05:18,753 --> 00:05:19,853 I can sneak up on this wolf, 59 00:05:19,854 --> 00:05:21,055 maybe the wolf won't see me. 60 00:05:21,089 --> 00:05:25,026 The wolf kept coming, the wolf saw me, 61 00:05:25,059 --> 00:05:28,229 and it said, "ah, is that food, is that a beaver?" 62 00:05:28,262 --> 00:05:30,198 "Is that a dead moose? Is that a dead deer, 63 00:05:30,231 --> 00:05:32,801 is it... what is that thing?" 64 00:05:32,834 --> 00:05:35,704 The wolf started stalking me, you think I was excited? 65 00:05:35,737 --> 00:05:38,673 That's one of my first encounters with a wolf, 66 00:05:38,707 --> 00:05:40,675 and I was stalked by a wolf. 67 00:05:40,709 --> 00:05:42,010 I have photographs to prove it. 68 00:05:42,043 --> 00:05:43,678 Not just a story. 69 00:05:43,712 --> 00:05:45,647 I cherish those photographs, 70 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:47,380 but you should see the look in that wolf's face 71 00:05:47,381 --> 00:05:50,151 when it finally decided that I was a human. 72 00:05:50,184 --> 00:05:51,756 That's when I knew that wolves were slightly 73 00:05:51,757 --> 00:05:53,220 different than what I thought they were. 74 00:05:53,221 --> 00:05:55,356 I could see all the embarrassment 75 00:05:55,389 --> 00:05:58,593 condensed in one expression, and walking away, 76 00:05:58,627 --> 00:06:01,996 like, "well you fooled me for a second, but don't tell anybody." 77 00:06:02,030 --> 00:06:04,332 That whole... 78 00:06:04,365 --> 00:06:06,134 the series of photographs is precious, 79 00:06:06,167 --> 00:06:08,169 I never even published it. 80 00:06:08,202 --> 00:06:10,071 Steve Piragis and his wife 81 00:06:10,104 --> 00:06:12,907 have lived up on the edge of the boundary waters canoe area 82 00:06:12,941 --> 00:06:14,809 for over 35 years, 83 00:06:14,843 --> 00:06:17,311 outside of a town called Ely, Minnesota, 84 00:06:17,345 --> 00:06:19,948 which is the closest town to wolf country, 85 00:06:19,981 --> 00:06:24,185 with a population of 3,500 people. 86 00:06:24,218 --> 00:06:26,120 They came and fell in love with the wilderness 87 00:06:26,154 --> 00:06:28,923 and decided to make it their permanent home. 88 00:06:28,957 --> 00:06:31,025 Now it's their backyard. 89 00:06:31,059 --> 00:06:32,661 They have an outfitting company, 90 00:06:32,694 --> 00:06:34,629 Piragis northwoods company, 91 00:06:34,663 --> 00:06:36,264 where they lead canoe excursions, 92 00:06:36,297 --> 00:06:39,200 including howling for wolves canoe trip. 93 00:06:44,105 --> 00:06:46,307 You know, I mean, we enjoy that we live in a place 94 00:06:46,340 --> 00:06:48,943 that's wild enough that we have wild wolves 95 00:06:48,977 --> 00:06:51,179 in our neighborhood, and we hear 'em howling, 96 00:06:51,212 --> 00:06:55,016 and I mean, I had a great experience with wolves, myself, 97 00:06:55,049 --> 00:06:57,385 oh, just a half... oh, about a mile actually, from here, 98 00:06:57,418 --> 00:07:00,955 when I was out on a run, very unusual opportunity 99 00:07:00,989 --> 00:07:02,957 to see wolves close up. 100 00:07:02,991 --> 00:07:04,993 There was, uh... two adults 101 00:07:05,026 --> 00:07:08,329 and two... two very young pups. 102 00:07:08,362 --> 00:07:10,665 Uh, it was in may, so it was probably... 103 00:07:10,699 --> 00:07:13,334 they were probably six or eight weeks old, 104 00:07:13,367 --> 00:07:16,805 and they were down in kind of a hollow in a clear cut, 105 00:07:16,838 --> 00:07:18,238 so I could... as I ran along the road, 106 00:07:18,239 --> 00:07:20,008 I could see these four wolves, 107 00:07:20,041 --> 00:07:21,943 two adults, two pups. 108 00:07:21,976 --> 00:07:23,845 And, uh... they saw me, 109 00:07:23,878 --> 00:07:26,014 and the mom, I assume the mom, 110 00:07:26,047 --> 00:07:27,916 kind of a large Grey wolf, 111 00:07:27,949 --> 00:07:29,382 and the other one's a very dark wolf, 112 00:07:29,383 --> 00:07:30,952 much smaller, um, 113 00:07:30,985 --> 00:07:33,354 the mom kind of scurried up into the woods 114 00:07:33,387 --> 00:07:37,325 and made a high-pitched caw, a very high-pitched screaming kind of caw, 115 00:07:37,358 --> 00:07:40,328 and everybody followed her up into the woods. The babies stopped, 116 00:07:40,361 --> 00:07:41,829 they were just rolling over each other 117 00:07:41,830 --> 00:07:43,932 like two little pups having fun, 118 00:07:43,965 --> 00:07:46,100 and the mom started, you know, alerting them, 119 00:07:46,134 --> 00:07:48,102 and they walked up into the woods together. 120 00:07:48,136 --> 00:07:50,204 So I go around the backside of the hill, 121 00:07:50,238 --> 00:07:52,173 and I imitated this little sound, 122 00:07:52,206 --> 00:07:56,244 this... this high-pitched call that the mom was doing, 123 00:07:56,277 --> 00:07:59,280 and lo and behold, out of the woods come the two pups. 124 00:07:59,313 --> 00:08:00,481 Like right to me, 125 00:08:00,514 --> 00:08:03,384 right within four feet of me. 126 00:08:03,417 --> 00:08:07,055 And... they... you know, they thought I was the mom calling to them. 127 00:08:07,088 --> 00:08:09,724 So, uh, I said, wow, this is... 128 00:08:09,758 --> 00:08:11,359 this is pretty neat, 129 00:08:11,392 --> 00:08:13,995 and, uh... within seconds later, 130 00:08:14,028 --> 00:08:16,297 the trees kind of start shaking down the hill, 131 00:08:16,330 --> 00:08:18,099 and down the hill comes the mom, 132 00:08:18,132 --> 00:08:22,336 making a... a show of it by shaking the trees. 133 00:08:22,370 --> 00:08:26,207 Shows up right in front of me with the two pups, 134 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,843 looks at me, and runs away. 135 00:08:28,877 --> 00:08:30,344 And I thought, that's fairly unusual 136 00:08:30,378 --> 00:08:33,014 for the mom to run away. 137 00:08:33,047 --> 00:08:36,885 And a couple seconds later, back she comes, 138 00:08:36,918 --> 00:08:39,153 same thing, trees shaking, you know, 139 00:08:39,187 --> 00:08:41,255 and this time she stands over the pups, 140 00:08:41,289 --> 00:08:44,025 I'm probably 12 feet away at the most. 141 00:08:44,058 --> 00:08:45,526 Stands over the pups, 142 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:47,796 all of the hackles on the back of her neck come up, 143 00:08:47,829 --> 00:08:50,264 her head low... lowers down, she's looking straight at me, 144 00:08:50,298 --> 00:08:52,901 and goes "woof." 145 00:08:52,934 --> 00:08:55,136 And I said, you know, intellectually, 146 00:08:55,169 --> 00:08:57,005 that was the one time I was a little afraid 147 00:08:57,038 --> 00:08:58,973 Of wolves. 148 00:09:06,014 --> 00:09:08,449 The place we meet wolves for the first time 149 00:09:08,482 --> 00:09:12,320 is in that fantastic story of little red riding hood. 150 00:09:12,353 --> 00:09:15,223 And it's not a very complimentary story to wolves, 151 00:09:15,256 --> 00:09:18,860 it in fact is one of the first fear characters 152 00:09:18,893 --> 00:09:20,862 that we, as children, engage with. 153 00:09:25,266 --> 00:09:27,328 These all relate to some of the myths around 154 00:09:27,330 --> 00:09:29,071 wolves. And... and they're dangerous, 155 00:09:29,103 --> 00:09:31,205 because they're not accounts of the actual wolves, 156 00:09:31,239 --> 00:09:33,842 they're not accounts F real, live wolves 157 00:09:33,875 --> 00:09:35,509 and the behaviors that wolves engage in. 158 00:09:50,959 --> 00:09:54,128 My God! 159 00:09:54,162 --> 00:09:56,530 No! 160 00:09:56,564 --> 00:09:59,167 The werewolf, the loup-garou, was... 161 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,036 was a... is a mischievous creature 162 00:10:02,070 --> 00:10:04,138 that will come at night and steal your shoes. 163 00:10:04,172 --> 00:10:06,274 So you wake up in the morning, where are my shoes? 164 00:10:06,307 --> 00:10:09,177 Oh, they took it, right, and so you go into the forest 165 00:10:09,210 --> 00:10:12,090 looking for this creature that is hiding behind the tree with your shoes. 166 00:10:15,649 --> 00:10:19,153 And all of a sudden, it became this, you know, 167 00:10:19,187 --> 00:10:21,289 blood-thirsty animal that will steal your kid, 168 00:10:21,322 --> 00:10:23,824 not your shoes. 169 00:10:27,962 --> 00:10:30,131 The risk of being injured, 170 00:10:30,164 --> 00:10:33,201 or killed by a wolf is... is... is minuscule. 171 00:10:33,234 --> 00:10:34,635 If you are afraid of a wolf, 172 00:10:34,668 --> 00:10:37,038 your car keys should be taken away from you, 173 00:10:37,071 --> 00:10:39,139 because you're far more likely to get in a car wreck, 174 00:10:39,140 --> 00:10:40,975 you shouldn't step in an airplane, 175 00:10:41,009 --> 00:10:43,945 you shouldn't go outside if there's lightning anywhere nearby, 176 00:10:43,978 --> 00:10:46,179 these are all far, far more common causes of injury and death. 177 00:10:46,180 --> 00:10:50,184 And so wolves, simply, uh, are not a threat to human beings, 178 00:10:50,218 --> 00:10:53,054 it's just a... it's a silly thing to think so. 179 00:10:54,288 --> 00:10:55,289 The wolf made a decision 180 00:10:55,323 --> 00:10:58,159 to join the human family. 181 00:10:58,192 --> 00:11:01,162 Somehow, someway, because they fit in. 182 00:11:01,195 --> 00:11:06,434 Why did the wolf come into the human family 40... 50... 60,000 years ago, 183 00:11:06,467 --> 00:11:08,402 and the cat didn't, or the horse didn't? 184 00:11:08,436 --> 00:11:11,205 Because it seemed to be a little more of an easy partnership. 185 00:11:11,239 --> 00:11:13,074 They blended in a little bit better. 186 00:11:13,107 --> 00:11:15,977 That was a decision that the wolf made 187 00:11:16,010 --> 00:11:17,946 for sustainability and survivability. 188 00:11:17,979 --> 00:11:19,312 Do you think there are more dogs in the world 189 00:11:19,313 --> 00:11:21,482 than wolves right now? 190 00:11:21,515 --> 00:11:25,019 How many millions and millions of dogs are there in the world? 191 00:11:25,053 --> 00:11:27,355 That's... that's the wolf. 192 00:11:27,388 --> 00:11:29,357 The wolf decided that somehow. 193 00:11:34,996 --> 00:11:37,999 It's clear that the evolution of the wolf to the dog 194 00:11:38,032 --> 00:11:40,935 has had a huge impact on man. 195 00:11:40,969 --> 00:11:43,671 Think of the many gifts from the wolf. 196 00:11:43,704 --> 00:11:47,375 Seeing eye dogs, service animals, 197 00:11:47,408 --> 00:11:49,978 even companionship. 198 00:11:50,011 --> 00:11:52,413 Scientific studies have even proven 199 00:11:52,446 --> 00:11:55,516 that people live longer that have dogs. 200 00:11:55,549 --> 00:11:58,019 And the wolf is more intelligent, 201 00:11:58,052 --> 00:12:01,222 has advanced senses, and a bigger brain. 202 00:12:01,255 --> 00:12:04,325 We're similar to them, they're not similar to us. 203 00:12:04,358 --> 00:12:09,430 It's very interesting, because I mean, we learn our initial programming, 204 00:12:09,463 --> 00:12:11,532 a lot of it, we learn from them. 205 00:12:11,565 --> 00:12:15,036 On average, a wolf walks for about eight hours of every day, 206 00:12:15,069 --> 00:12:16,437 and they can walk at quite a clip, 207 00:12:16,470 --> 00:12:19,073 they can walk at four to six Miles an hour, 208 00:12:19,107 --> 00:12:21,976 and so if you wanna know what it's like to be a wolf, walk. 209 00:12:22,010 --> 00:12:25,713 And just keep walking, and walk and walk and walk. Walk day after day. 210 00:12:25,746 --> 00:12:29,183 This is a big, big part of what the life of a wolf is all about, is walking. 211 00:12:29,217 --> 00:12:30,451 It's the simplest thing. 212 00:12:30,484 --> 00:12:32,553 And the next most important thing 213 00:12:32,586 --> 00:12:36,424 is... is also something that's very, very closely related to humans, 214 00:12:36,457 --> 00:12:38,591 is just that wolves live in families, they live in packs. 215 00:12:38,592 --> 00:12:40,694 And a pack is basically a family unit, 216 00:12:40,728 --> 00:12:43,697 and while wolves spend about eight hours of every day walking, 217 00:12:43,731 --> 00:12:47,535 they spend about eight hours of every day socializing with their pack mates. 218 00:12:47,568 --> 00:12:49,637 And so if you like living in your family, 219 00:12:49,670 --> 00:12:53,541 and if you like walking, you have a great deal in common with wolves, 220 00:12:53,574 --> 00:12:56,477 and the next most important thing to know about wolves 221 00:12:56,510 --> 00:12:58,612 is how it is that they get their food. 222 00:12:58,646 --> 00:13:01,182 They eat things that are generally bigger than them. 223 00:13:01,215 --> 00:13:03,517 Sometimes up to 10 times their size. 224 00:13:03,551 --> 00:13:06,720 And so wolves capture their food, whether it's a moose, 225 00:13:06,754 --> 00:13:10,458 or a deer, or an elk, they do it by killing it with their teeth. 226 00:13:10,491 --> 00:13:14,662 Imagine killing something that's 10 times your size with your teeth, 227 00:13:14,695 --> 00:13:17,131 and that's the only way you're gonna get to eat. 228 00:13:17,165 --> 00:13:20,734 And so it's incredibly heroic, it's incredibly dangerous 229 00:13:20,768 --> 00:13:23,237 uh, to be able to get food in this way. 230 00:13:23,271 --> 00:13:28,076 Um, wolf is capable of living to about 12 years of age, 231 00:13:28,109 --> 00:13:31,279 but their life expectancy is about four years of age, 232 00:13:31,312 --> 00:13:33,681 and one of the most common causes of death is starvation, 233 00:13:33,714 --> 00:13:35,649 the inability to get enough food, 234 00:13:35,683 --> 00:13:39,053 and it's just because it's really hard to kill something 235 00:13:39,087 --> 00:13:45,059 that's 10 times your size with your teeth. 236 00:13:45,093 --> 00:13:47,628 I grew up in this hunting culture 237 00:13:47,661 --> 00:13:50,164 where you defined your worth, in some ways, 238 00:13:50,198 --> 00:13:51,598 by how many pheasants you could shoot, 239 00:13:51,599 --> 00:13:54,235 or how many ducks you could get, 240 00:13:54,268 --> 00:13:56,237 and what kind of a trophy you could get. 241 00:13:56,270 --> 00:13:59,107 The biggest buck with the biggest antlers, 242 00:13:59,140 --> 00:14:01,509 and if you could go shoot a wolf, 243 00:14:01,542 --> 00:14:04,212 pfft, you're a real man. 244 00:14:04,245 --> 00:14:06,147 One day I found myself heading north 245 00:14:06,180 --> 00:14:08,282 with some friends from Hardwick, Minnesota, 246 00:14:08,316 --> 00:14:11,285 they were probably 10 years older than me, 247 00:14:11,319 --> 00:14:12,679 they were going to go wolf hunting. 248 00:14:14,388 --> 00:14:16,557 Okay, it's not the ultimate animal, 249 00:14:16,590 --> 00:14:18,392 maybe it is back then. 250 00:14:18,426 --> 00:14:20,094 There was a bounty on wolves. 251 00:14:20,128 --> 00:14:22,696 A 50-dollar bounty. What does that mean? 252 00:14:22,730 --> 00:14:27,301 It means that, culturally, it was a value to kill them, right? 253 00:14:27,335 --> 00:14:29,670 So us naive prairie kids... 254 00:14:29,703 --> 00:14:33,341 I imagine they were in their 20s, and I was 15... 255 00:14:33,374 --> 00:14:36,877 let's go up north, go look for wolves, and go hunt them. 256 00:14:36,910 --> 00:14:40,448 So I had a m-1 carbine, world war ii vintage 257 00:14:40,481 --> 00:14:44,385 that I got from NRA, but I was a young boy 258 00:14:44,418 --> 00:14:47,121 expressing my cultural norm, 259 00:14:47,155 --> 00:14:48,588 and if I could go up and kill a wolf, 260 00:14:48,589 --> 00:14:51,325 I would be the hero of my town, 261 00:14:51,359 --> 00:14:54,662 it'd be in the newspaper, there'd be pictures. 262 00:14:54,695 --> 00:14:56,764 So I went up north with my friends and looked, 263 00:14:56,797 --> 00:15:00,634 walked through the woods, and... scared. 264 00:15:00,668 --> 00:15:03,704 Scared that I'd see a wolf, scared that I wouldn't. 265 00:15:03,737 --> 00:15:05,938 I was good shot, and if I saw one, I might have killed it. 266 00:15:05,939 --> 00:15:08,809 Didn't see one, didn't see any tracks. 267 00:15:11,579 --> 00:15:12,779 To me, the ultimate question is, 268 00:15:12,780 --> 00:15:15,583 why do you kill the things you love? 269 00:15:15,616 --> 00:15:16,683 I think it's a primal thing. 270 00:15:16,684 --> 00:15:19,153 It's a male thing. 271 00:15:19,187 --> 00:15:22,423 Uh, we go back 30,000 years to the cave paintings 272 00:15:22,456 --> 00:15:25,926 in Glasgow and Southern France. 273 00:15:25,959 --> 00:15:29,463 Picasso said it's the most beautiful art man's ever created, 274 00:15:29,497 --> 00:15:31,532 we can't even equal that. 275 00:15:31,565 --> 00:15:35,869 They love them, but they killed as many as they could to eat them. 276 00:15:35,903 --> 00:15:39,440 So it's in our genes, I mean, for thousands and thousands and thousands 277 00:15:39,473 --> 00:15:42,176 and thousands of years, we hunted. 278 00:15:42,210 --> 00:15:46,914 We forget that sometimes, I think, in this century. 279 00:15:46,947 --> 00:15:48,682 It wasn't that long ago, 280 00:15:48,716 --> 00:15:52,286 we depended upon the weapon bow and arrow, 281 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:56,424 atlatl, spear, gun, 282 00:15:56,457 --> 00:15:59,360 to go out and keep our families alive 283 00:15:59,393 --> 00:16:01,595 and keep ourselves fed. 284 00:16:01,629 --> 00:16:03,364 Well we haven't evolved past that, 285 00:16:03,397 --> 00:16:05,366 we still have that strange kind of an instinct 286 00:16:05,399 --> 00:16:07,501 we wanna quest, we wanna hunt, 287 00:16:07,535 --> 00:16:10,304 it's very powerful. 288 00:16:10,338 --> 00:16:11,804 Most of the stuff of what we do in life 289 00:16:11,805 --> 00:16:14,808 is a gradual slide into a consciousness, 290 00:16:14,842 --> 00:16:16,544 or a point of view. 291 00:16:16,577 --> 00:16:18,712 Some of us reach those points 292 00:16:18,746 --> 00:16:20,714 where something happens one day and it changes, 293 00:16:20,748 --> 00:16:23,451 and you meet someone, 294 00:16:23,484 --> 00:16:26,687 you read a book, you watch a movie. 295 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,323 This particular day, I was 14 years old, 296 00:16:29,357 --> 00:16:31,559 up in a state park near Luverne, Minnesota 297 00:16:31,592 --> 00:16:34,995 where I grew up, and I was a fox hunter at this point. 298 00:16:35,028 --> 00:16:38,499 I killed fox for a living, and I liked it. 299 00:16:38,532 --> 00:16:41,369 The most... one of the most exciting times of my life. 300 00:16:41,402 --> 00:16:43,904 Yet, I love fox. 301 00:16:43,937 --> 00:16:46,006 Outwit them. 302 00:16:46,039 --> 00:16:48,976 Not easy to kill a fox, they're very smart. 303 00:16:49,009 --> 00:16:52,613 You have to be pretty good at tracking and watching, 304 00:16:52,646 --> 00:16:54,948 and you have to be a good shot. 305 00:16:54,982 --> 00:16:59,253 But there's a certain point you evolve somehow, you change. 306 00:16:59,287 --> 00:17:02,456 The camera just happened to come into my life somehow, 307 00:17:02,490 --> 00:17:05,025 as the artist. 308 00:17:05,058 --> 00:17:07,795 I was up in the blue mountains with my camera, instead of my gun, 309 00:17:09,497 --> 00:17:11,665 and I saw a fox off in the distance. 310 00:17:11,699 --> 00:17:15,469 Well I learned from an old friend of mine, Jeff Cooney, 311 00:17:15,503 --> 00:17:18,339 10 years older than me, that did the same thing, 312 00:17:18,372 --> 00:17:20,541 how to squeak like a mouse 313 00:17:20,574 --> 00:17:22,410 to make the fox think there's a free meal, 314 00:17:22,443 --> 00:17:24,545 so I hid behind a rock and went... 315 00:17:26,079 --> 00:17:28,482 The fox came running, I peeked up, 316 00:17:28,516 --> 00:17:30,851 just as the fox came within maybe 10 feet, 317 00:17:30,884 --> 00:17:34,288 made a click with my three-dollar plastic Argus camera, 318 00:17:34,322 --> 00:17:35,789 I was like, "wow, that's amazing." 319 00:17:35,823 --> 00:17:38,892 Then I got a picture back a week later. 320 00:17:38,926 --> 00:17:42,363 You take it to the drugstore... black and white film, it's a process, 321 00:17:42,396 --> 00:17:43,563 they come back with a little print, 322 00:17:43,564 --> 00:17:46,800 and magic. 323 00:17:46,834 --> 00:17:48,336 I shot the fox. 324 00:17:48,369 --> 00:17:49,803 I captured, there's my trophy. 325 00:17:49,837 --> 00:17:51,339 There's my bragging point. 326 00:17:51,372 --> 00:17:52,740 I don't have a fox skin, 327 00:17:52,773 --> 00:17:55,709 I have a photograph. This is even better. 328 00:17:55,743 --> 00:17:59,847 I can put it on the wall and the fox is still alive. 329 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:01,749 It didn't take long. 330 00:18:01,782 --> 00:18:07,388 From that moment on, it was a different story. 331 00:18:07,421 --> 00:18:10,057 And I'm still doing the same thing. 332 00:18:10,090 --> 00:18:12,460 I'm still a hunter. 333 00:18:12,493 --> 00:18:16,630 I'm... I'm still tricking animals, sneaking up on them. 334 00:18:28,742 --> 00:18:30,978 Jim had met Will Steger in the 80's, 335 00:18:31,011 --> 00:18:35,082 and the two embarked on a well-known expedition to the north pole. 336 00:18:35,115 --> 00:18:38,419 Jim had heard about the white wolf not being afraid of man, 337 00:18:38,452 --> 00:18:42,356 and became fascinated with an idea of a similar mission to the arctic. 338 00:18:42,390 --> 00:18:44,525 And the unique opportunity to document, 339 00:18:44,558 --> 00:18:46,527 and live with wolves in the wild. 340 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,563 Less than 500 Miles from the north pole 341 00:18:49,597 --> 00:18:52,566 lies Canada's most distant frontier, 342 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:54,868 Ellesmere island. 343 00:18:58,171 --> 00:19:00,541 Only someone with a passion for wolves 344 00:19:00,574 --> 00:19:04,412 would dream of tracking them into this desolate land. 345 00:19:06,013 --> 00:19:10,083 One such person is photographer Jim Brandenburg. 346 00:19:10,117 --> 00:19:12,486 Wolves have always been a favorite animal of mine, 347 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:14,587 and I suppose one of the reasons they're my favorite animal 348 00:19:14,588 --> 00:19:16,724 is because they're so intelligent. 349 00:19:16,757 --> 00:19:20,494 That intelligence makes it, uh... nearly impossible to film them 350 00:19:20,528 --> 00:19:21,729 in a more conventional place, 351 00:19:21,762 --> 00:19:24,565 say in the forested areas. 352 00:19:24,598 --> 00:19:26,867 And for some reason these arctic wolves 353 00:19:26,900 --> 00:19:28,702 have... have got a quality about them 354 00:19:28,736 --> 00:19:30,604 where they tolerated us very well, 355 00:19:30,638 --> 00:19:32,005 and it became clear 356 00:19:32,039 --> 00:19:34,074 that it would make a wonderful story. 357 00:19:41,782 --> 00:19:44,752 In 1986, Jim's white wolf premiered 358 00:19:44,785 --> 00:19:48,956 at the Sundance film festival and won numerous prestigious awards. 359 00:19:50,724 --> 00:19:53,193 White wolf also became a best-selling book, 360 00:19:53,226 --> 00:19:54,828 and was the cover story 361 00:19:54,862 --> 00:19:58,632 for the national geographic magazine. 362 00:19:58,666 --> 00:20:00,067 When I was involved in that, 363 00:20:00,100 --> 00:20:02,202 I felt this is the highlight of my career, 364 00:20:02,235 --> 00:20:03,537 I will never equal it, 365 00:20:03,571 --> 00:20:06,006 except one thing maybe. 366 00:20:06,039 --> 00:20:09,510 If a bunch of aliens had popped down on my property 367 00:20:09,543 --> 00:20:11,979 and said, "Jim, come with us on our spaceship, 368 00:20:12,012 --> 00:20:13,681 we're gonna go off to another planet." 369 00:20:13,714 --> 00:20:15,549 I'm... I'm kidding. It sounds funny, 370 00:20:15,583 --> 00:20:18,552 this is my... this is a true conception I thought, 371 00:20:18,586 --> 00:20:20,988 when I was in the middle of the white wolf experience, 372 00:20:21,021 --> 00:20:23,223 I thought, I will never equal this, 373 00:20:23,256 --> 00:20:24,625 and I was right. 374 00:20:24,658 --> 00:20:26,159 I've never equaled it since. 375 00:20:26,193 --> 00:20:30,097 Our tent, in research, 376 00:20:30,130 --> 00:20:34,034 was within a five-minute walk of the den. 377 00:20:34,067 --> 00:20:36,670 Lived right with them, as a family. 378 00:20:36,704 --> 00:20:38,137 We had problems with the white wolves 379 00:20:38,138 --> 00:20:42,009 coming stealing our stuff out of the tent. 380 00:20:42,042 --> 00:20:43,877 So, it's very different than here, 381 00:20:43,911 --> 00:20:47,114 the wolves up there were kind of blase about humans. 382 00:20:47,147 --> 00:20:51,184 To see a wolf here, back in those days, was rare. 383 00:20:51,218 --> 00:20:53,887 I know people in Ely that spent a lifetime here 384 00:20:53,921 --> 00:20:56,790 and never saw a wild wolf. 385 00:21:03,196 --> 00:21:06,600 At times, it pays to speak wolf. 386 00:21:18,278 --> 00:21:20,080 The Alpha male, the leader of the pack, 387 00:21:20,113 --> 00:21:22,816 the father of the pups, the boss 388 00:21:22,850 --> 00:21:25,986 injured his paw for about three weeks. 389 00:21:26,019 --> 00:21:28,055 He was injured, couldn't really hunt. 390 00:21:28,088 --> 00:21:30,524 The rest of the pack took care of him. 391 00:21:30,558 --> 00:21:32,159 Saw it, I mean it was clear. 392 00:21:32,192 --> 00:21:35,663 They had babysitters, scruffy, we called him. 393 00:21:35,696 --> 00:21:37,698 The pack would go off hunting. 394 00:21:37,731 --> 00:21:40,000 Scruffy around the pack would be very submissive, 395 00:21:40,033 --> 00:21:44,805 and wolves are like humans. And they beat up one another other, 396 00:21:44,838 --> 00:21:47,675 you see a weak one, that, uh, was the... 397 00:21:47,708 --> 00:21:50,544 the... in every class of 30 kids, 398 00:21:50,578 --> 00:21:52,546 there's always one kid that everybody picks on. 399 00:21:52,580 --> 00:21:54,782 Not everybody, but, they get picked on. 400 00:21:54,815 --> 00:21:57,217 Wolf pack's the same way. 401 00:21:57,250 --> 00:22:00,320 This scruffy animal we called scruffy, 402 00:22:00,353 --> 00:22:02,556 the rest of the wolves beat him up all the time. 403 00:22:02,590 --> 00:22:04,758 Constantly were picking on him, and chewing on him, 404 00:22:04,792 --> 00:22:06,960 well when the rest of the pack went off hunting, 405 00:22:06,994 --> 00:22:10,964 scruffy was the designated babysitter. Scruffy did that to the pups. 406 00:22:10,998 --> 00:22:16,904 Scruffy was the big boss and it was very subtle complex behavior with wolves. 407 00:22:16,937 --> 00:22:20,240 I saw stuff that mimicked a lot of human behavior. 408 00:22:20,273 --> 00:22:23,777 Aunts and uncles, and children, and brothers, and sisters 409 00:22:23,811 --> 00:22:25,879 taking care of the pack. 410 00:22:25,913 --> 00:22:30,951 Not just casually, but very tight family unit. 411 00:22:30,984 --> 00:22:35,823 The very last day, as we packed up, 412 00:22:35,856 --> 00:22:38,626 the den was about seven Miles away from the landing strip, 413 00:22:38,659 --> 00:22:42,730 a little... it was a very small remote landing strip, and... 414 00:22:45,398 --> 00:22:47,635 we got in the airplane, packed the stuff up, 415 00:22:47,668 --> 00:22:52,105 the lump in my throat was as big as the airplane itself. 416 00:22:52,139 --> 00:22:55,075 I looked out the window, and there was the family of wolves sitting there, 417 00:22:55,108 --> 00:22:57,745 like they were saying goodbye. 418 00:22:57,778 --> 00:23:01,181 Next to the landing strip as we taxied off 419 00:23:01,214 --> 00:23:04,017 and took off. 420 00:23:04,051 --> 00:23:09,690 And I think of that as a story that someone would make up, 421 00:23:09,723 --> 00:23:13,193 but on my mother's grave it's a true story. 422 00:23:13,226 --> 00:23:15,195 I haven't been back since. 423 00:23:20,133 --> 00:23:24,004 In the words of author Barry Lopez, 424 00:23:24,037 --> 00:23:26,273 "and to approach them slowly in terms 425 00:23:26,306 --> 00:23:31,845 of the Western imagination is really to deny the animal." 426 00:23:31,879 --> 00:23:34,314 "It behooves us to visit with the people 427 00:23:34,347 --> 00:23:38,218 whom we share a planet, and an interest in wolves, 428 00:23:38,251 --> 00:23:41,955 but who themselves come from a different time space, 429 00:23:41,989 --> 00:23:45,392 and who, so far as we know, 430 00:23:45,425 --> 00:23:50,698 are very much closer to the wolf than we will ever be." 431 00:24:05,813 --> 00:24:08,115 James Taylor called one day, 432 00:24:08,148 --> 00:24:13,854 the singer, wanted me to help him with an album cover. 433 00:24:13,887 --> 00:24:16,757 He wanted a wolf on the album cover, and that surprised me. 434 00:24:16,790 --> 00:24:18,325 His album, "never die young." 435 00:24:24,331 --> 00:24:26,166 I didn't think he knew much about wolves, 436 00:24:26,199 --> 00:24:27,434 but he knew a lot about wolves. 437 00:24:27,467 --> 00:24:29,903 Came up here and saw wolves. 438 00:24:29,937 --> 00:24:33,373 I asked him if he'd do a benefit concert for wolves, and he said yes. 439 00:24:33,406 --> 00:24:36,143 We did two of them. One in Minneapolis, 440 00:24:36,176 --> 00:24:38,445 one in Madison, Wisconsin. 441 00:24:38,478 --> 00:24:40,748 Raised some nice money, 442 00:24:40,781 --> 00:24:44,785 some of that money went to the defenders of wildlife, 443 00:24:44,818 --> 00:24:47,855 defenders of wildlife leveraged that up into a... a program 444 00:24:47,888 --> 00:24:52,726 to give the ratchers over on Yellowstone an excuse 445 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,829 to allow the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone 446 00:24:55,863 --> 00:25:01,802 by paying for the cows that the wolves killed off the park properties. 447 00:25:01,835 --> 00:25:04,204 So in a tiny, small way, 448 00:25:04,237 --> 00:25:08,408 James Taylor and I had a fairly significant role 449 00:25:08,441 --> 00:25:13,280 in opening up that dam to let the wolf be reintroduced to Yellowstone. 450 00:25:13,313 --> 00:25:17,384 We didn't know if the wolf would survive in Yellowstone, particularly. 451 00:25:17,417 --> 00:25:19,753 They thrived. 452 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,017 When the wolf returned to Yellowstone, 453 00:25:50,050 --> 00:25:53,320 after an absence of over 65 years, 454 00:25:53,353 --> 00:25:57,090 scientists discovered an ecological phenomenon 455 00:25:57,124 --> 00:26:00,193 called the trophic cascade. 456 00:26:00,227 --> 00:26:03,831 "Trophic" refers to the different levels of the food chain, 457 00:26:03,864 --> 00:26:06,967 plant being one, insects the next, 458 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:08,401 all the way up the ladder. 459 00:26:08,435 --> 00:26:11,004 And the wolf had a cascading effect. 460 00:26:11,038 --> 00:26:14,107 The elk and deer grew stronger, 461 00:26:14,141 --> 00:26:18,011 the aspens and willows flourished, 462 00:26:18,045 --> 00:26:21,849 even the grass grew taller. 463 00:26:21,882 --> 00:26:26,954 And the most fascinating, was that the rivers were covered, 464 00:26:26,987 --> 00:26:29,556 along with its many inhabitants. 465 00:26:32,525 --> 00:26:35,062 Despite being small in numbers, 466 00:26:35,095 --> 00:26:39,900 this top predator would not only transform the ecosystem, 467 00:26:39,933 --> 00:26:43,070 but also, its physical geography. 468 00:26:46,439 --> 00:26:51,879 A magical story of ecology and a missing piece being put back in. 469 00:26:51,912 --> 00:26:54,547 Sometimes I say once you break something in the environment 470 00:26:54,581 --> 00:26:56,316 you can't fix it. 471 00:26:56,349 --> 00:26:59,086 That's magical. I'm very proud of that. 472 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,322 And every time you listen to a James Taylor song, 473 00:27:02,355 --> 00:27:04,291 think of that and thank him. 474 00:27:13,466 --> 00:27:15,102 Good shot. 475 00:27:27,147 --> 00:27:29,449 That's the end of her. 476 00:27:29,482 --> 00:27:34,021 Then, in 2011, something shifted. 477 00:27:34,054 --> 00:27:35,989 Despite a sea-change of attitude 478 00:27:36,023 --> 00:27:38,425 about this iconic species, 479 00:27:38,458 --> 00:27:42,495 president Obama signed off on de-listing the wolf. 480 00:27:42,529 --> 00:27:45,298 The same year, state legislatures in the west 481 00:27:45,332 --> 00:27:47,935 pushed through a wolf hunting and trapping bill 482 00:27:47,968 --> 00:27:52,139 that would put the collared wolves in Yellowstone in jeopardy. 483 00:27:52,172 --> 00:27:56,143 Soon, gunshots were reported around the globe, 484 00:27:56,176 --> 00:27:57,911 and millions mourn the death 485 00:27:57,945 --> 00:28:00,647 of the most famous wolf in the world. 486 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:05,485 Researchers knew her as the Alpha female 832f, 487 00:28:05,518 --> 00:28:09,156 but to many, she was known as 06. 488 00:28:10,623 --> 00:28:12,926 And this is where wolves are revealing 489 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,429 in, in our... in humans, what might be a great failing. 490 00:28:16,463 --> 00:28:18,465 And, and... the concern is this basically, 491 00:28:18,498 --> 00:28:22,569 it's just that, as a country we don't know how to answer 492 00:28:22,602 --> 00:28:25,005 this very simple question, which is, 493 00:28:25,038 --> 00:28:26,606 what is an endangered species? 494 00:28:26,639 --> 00:28:28,976 And there's definitely controversy 495 00:28:29,009 --> 00:28:30,577 about how to interpret that phrase 496 00:28:30,610 --> 00:28:34,281 and what it means, but whatever it means, 497 00:28:34,314 --> 00:28:37,250 occupying 15% of the historic range 498 00:28:37,284 --> 00:28:40,487 could not possibly count as recovery. 499 00:28:47,260 --> 00:28:49,696 And snaring, I wasn't even aware of snaring. 500 00:28:49,729 --> 00:28:51,198 I mean, I had heard of it. 501 00:28:51,231 --> 00:28:52,711 I learned about that during this time, 502 00:28:52,732 --> 00:28:57,404 and now I'm just so appalled that 75% of the wolves 503 00:28:57,437 --> 00:28:59,339 that were killed during the trapping season 504 00:28:59,372 --> 00:29:01,341 were killed by snaring. 505 00:29:01,374 --> 00:29:04,244 The trap itself is created in such a way 506 00:29:04,277 --> 00:29:08,015 that it will catch any animal that steps into it. 507 00:29:08,048 --> 00:29:11,618 And that mean... would mean not only the target animal, 508 00:29:11,651 --> 00:29:13,286 which in this instance would be the wolf, 509 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:18,091 but any other animal that steps into that trap. 510 00:29:18,125 --> 00:29:19,492 A beautiful male coyote, 511 00:29:19,526 --> 00:29:21,128 a three-to four-year-old male coyote 512 00:29:21,161 --> 00:29:24,397 was caught in a wildlife services trap. 513 00:29:24,431 --> 00:29:27,667 And it appeared to us that this animal had been in this trap, 514 00:29:27,700 --> 00:29:31,438 from the extent of its injuries in the tissue, 515 00:29:31,471 --> 00:29:33,306 for anywhere from a week minimum, 516 00:29:33,340 --> 00:29:35,608 but possibly two weeks. 517 00:29:35,642 --> 00:29:38,478 As we investigated the situation, looked around, 518 00:29:38,511 --> 00:29:41,114 we found other coyote tracks 519 00:29:41,148 --> 00:29:44,551 within his area, right around him and in the snow around him. 520 00:29:44,584 --> 00:29:48,055 And what was interesting is it appeared to us that 521 00:29:48,088 --> 00:29:50,423 possibly his mate, or another coyote, 522 00:29:50,457 --> 00:29:52,392 was actually helping him survive, 523 00:29:52,425 --> 00:29:55,362 was actually protecting him against other predators, 524 00:29:55,395 --> 00:29:59,399 and probably bringing him food, too. 525 00:29:59,432 --> 00:30:01,568 If the American public saw this 526 00:30:01,601 --> 00:30:05,538 and understood the brutality and the cruelty of this, 527 00:30:05,572 --> 00:30:09,576 that this program would be ended very quickly. 528 00:30:09,609 --> 00:30:13,346 I often ask people who abuse animals 529 00:30:13,380 --> 00:30:15,215 and do nasty things to animals, 530 00:30:15,248 --> 00:30:17,550 "would you do it to your dog?" 531 00:30:17,584 --> 00:30:19,786 And some people don't like to hear that 532 00:30:19,819 --> 00:30:22,722 because it puts them in a very uneasy space. 533 00:30:22,755 --> 00:30:24,657 And, you know, thank goodness, 534 00:30:24,691 --> 00:30:27,694 if I've talked to somebody who's, you know, trapped a wolf, 535 00:30:27,727 --> 00:30:30,097 shot a wolf, done something harm... 536 00:30:30,130 --> 00:30:34,301 poisoned prairie dogs, um, harmed coyotes, 537 00:30:34,334 --> 00:30:36,836 and I say well, "would you do it to you dog?" 538 00:30:36,869 --> 00:30:39,272 They go, "well no, of course I wouldn't." 539 00:30:39,306 --> 00:30:42,475 And then I'll say, "well how come you can do it to another animal 540 00:30:42,509 --> 00:30:45,178 who is also sentient and conscious 541 00:30:45,212 --> 00:30:46,546 and feels pain?" 542 00:30:46,579 --> 00:30:49,182 And oftentimes, with a lot of people, 543 00:30:49,216 --> 00:30:50,683 there's a pause. 544 00:30:50,717 --> 00:30:52,719 And it's an important pause, I think, 545 00:30:52,752 --> 00:30:54,821 because they haven't ever put their dog 546 00:30:54,854 --> 00:30:57,690 in the place of those animals. 547 00:31:06,399 --> 00:31:09,569 Following the de-listing in the Yellowstone area, 548 00:31:09,602 --> 00:31:11,638 the wolf was about to face a new threat 549 00:31:11,671 --> 00:31:14,341 in the Great Lakes region. 550 00:31:14,374 --> 00:31:16,809 Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar 551 00:31:16,843 --> 00:31:19,112 petitioned the interior secretary 552 00:31:19,146 --> 00:31:21,314 for the de-listing of the wolf in Minnesota, 553 00:31:21,348 --> 00:31:25,152 and were calling for a state-regulated wolf hunt. 554 00:31:26,919 --> 00:31:28,288 Senator Dibble. 555 00:31:28,321 --> 00:31:29,489 Thank you, Mr. President, 556 00:31:29,522 --> 00:31:31,358 we're not quite done with wolves, sorry. 557 00:31:31,391 --> 00:31:36,696 - Um, I have the a18 amendment. - Senator dibble offers 558 00:31:36,729 --> 00:31:39,832 the a18 amendment, the secretary will report the amendment. 559 00:31:39,866 --> 00:31:42,735 Senator dibble moves to amend house file 2171 as amended 560 00:31:42,769 --> 00:31:46,439 pursuant to rule 45 adopted by the senate April 17th, 2012, 561 00:31:46,473 --> 00:31:48,741 as follows, page 22 delete section 50, 562 00:31:48,775 --> 00:31:51,811 this is the a18 amendment. 563 00:31:51,844 --> 00:31:53,513 And it was very clear what the intent 564 00:31:53,546 --> 00:31:56,649 of that committee hearing was. 565 00:31:56,683 --> 00:32:01,888 It was to roll out a... a plan to hunt wolves in the state of Minnesota. 566 00:32:01,921 --> 00:32:05,792 This is even before the official de-listing occurred. 567 00:32:05,825 --> 00:32:09,262 The first hearing at the legislature was January... 568 00:32:09,296 --> 00:32:12,899 was a day before the d-listing, was January 26th. 569 00:32:12,932 --> 00:32:15,602 In the house and in the senate. 570 00:32:15,635 --> 00:32:17,804 The... the rush was on. 571 00:32:17,837 --> 00:32:19,506 The pressure was on. 572 00:32:19,539 --> 00:32:21,908 There was going to be a wolf hunt. 573 00:32:21,941 --> 00:32:24,777 The big agricultural groups, the big hunting groups 574 00:32:24,811 --> 00:32:28,181 had done their homework, had effectively lobbied 575 00:32:28,215 --> 00:32:30,717 all the chairs on the committees. 576 00:32:30,750 --> 00:32:33,820 Already had a plan in place through the DNR 577 00:32:33,853 --> 00:32:37,424 to begin this hunt in 2012. 578 00:32:37,457 --> 00:32:40,493 The bill was rushed through, it eventually was incorporated 579 00:32:40,527 --> 00:32:43,363 into the game and fish bill, there was some debate on the floor, 580 00:32:43,396 --> 00:32:45,265 but it was just too late in the process 581 00:32:45,298 --> 00:32:46,766 for us to stop it. 582 00:32:46,799 --> 00:32:50,703 The authority that has been working on... on wolves 583 00:32:50,737 --> 00:32:52,305 for many, many years, 584 00:32:52,339 --> 00:32:53,773 no... no question about it, 585 00:32:53,806 --> 00:32:56,709 there was no hesitation on that particular call. 586 00:32:56,743 --> 00:33:00,480 It was asked directly on that particular conference call 587 00:33:00,513 --> 00:33:02,815 if it is time to manage wolves in Minnesota 588 00:33:02,849 --> 00:33:05,718 and this man said, "absolutely." 589 00:33:05,752 --> 00:33:07,820 And he said because of the numbers, number one, 590 00:33:07,854 --> 00:33:09,789 and because the numbers... 591 00:33:09,822 --> 00:33:13,560 If they continue to grow at the rate they are growing, 592 00:33:13,593 --> 00:33:17,530 they're gonna be causing problems amongst themselves. 593 00:33:17,564 --> 00:33:20,667 Yes, so recently, the federal government proposed to delist wolves 594 00:33:20,700 --> 00:33:21,901 throughout the lower 48, 595 00:33:21,934 --> 00:33:24,571 excepting for Mexican wolves. 596 00:33:24,604 --> 00:33:27,038 And whenever the federal government makes a proposal like that, 597 00:33:27,039 --> 00:33:29,609 it has to go through a scientific peer review. 598 00:33:29,642 --> 00:33:32,279 And so I was selected to be a peer reviewer, 599 00:33:32,312 --> 00:33:33,846 along with a couple of others, 600 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:36,949 and we were selected on the basis of our credentials, 601 00:33:36,983 --> 00:33:39,552 on the basis of what we knew about wolves. 602 00:33:39,586 --> 00:33:41,754 It was later discovered, uh... 603 00:33:41,788 --> 00:33:44,624 that myself and these two colleagues of mine 604 00:33:44,657 --> 00:33:48,828 were not favorably disposed to this particular proposal 605 00:33:48,861 --> 00:33:50,963 to delist wolves across the country. 606 00:33:50,997 --> 00:33:53,766 And when that was found out, uh, we were uninvited 607 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:57,404 to be panelists to review this document. 608 00:33:57,437 --> 00:34:00,773 And that created some controversy for folks, because of course it's not a... 609 00:34:00,807 --> 00:34:03,310 a very sensible way to go about a peer review, 610 00:34:03,343 --> 00:34:05,076 to just take people off because you might not like 611 00:34:05,077 --> 00:34:07,380 the opinion that they would come to. 612 00:34:07,414 --> 00:34:10,049 And, um... and, this really is just a symptom 613 00:34:10,082 --> 00:34:12,285 of a much bigger trouble uh, that we have on the planet, 614 00:34:12,319 --> 00:34:15,722 we think that, uh... uh, life is just full of a bunch of opinions, 615 00:34:15,755 --> 00:34:17,757 and one opinion is the same as another, 616 00:34:17,790 --> 00:34:21,628 and that's not the case. Uh, the thing that makes a scientific opinion 617 00:34:21,661 --> 00:34:23,496 different from any other kind of opinion 618 00:34:23,530 --> 00:34:25,465 is just how well it's defended. 619 00:34:25,498 --> 00:34:28,535 And so it doesn't matter what my opinion is, 620 00:34:28,568 --> 00:34:31,371 what matters is how well-reasoned it is, 621 00:34:31,404 --> 00:34:33,573 and how well-defended it is. 622 00:34:33,606 --> 00:34:35,742 Members, it's... it's very easy 623 00:34:35,775 --> 00:34:38,578 for those of you who live around here 624 00:34:38,611 --> 00:34:42,081 and you can watch wolves on television, and... 625 00:34:42,114 --> 00:34:46,085 and, uh... but it's a lot different for people 626 00:34:46,118 --> 00:34:48,788 that actually live in wolf country, 627 00:34:48,821 --> 00:34:51,090 where wolves live. 628 00:34:51,123 --> 00:34:54,827 Where parents are afraid to leave their kids alone 629 00:34:54,861 --> 00:34:58,565 to wait for the school bus. 630 00:34:58,598 --> 00:35:00,733 I know one of the editors of one of my newspapers 631 00:35:00,767 --> 00:35:03,603 and when she takes a walk at night, 632 00:35:03,636 --> 00:35:06,339 she carries a handgun with her. 633 00:35:08,641 --> 00:35:10,410 Because of wolves. 634 00:35:10,443 --> 00:35:12,512 The decision was made. 635 00:35:12,545 --> 00:35:14,914 And now to take it away from these people 636 00:35:14,947 --> 00:35:17,384 that are so impassioned about the wolf, 637 00:35:17,417 --> 00:35:19,118 to kill the wolf. 638 00:35:19,151 --> 00:35:24,491 There's... as much passion as you see to protect the wolf, 639 00:35:24,524 --> 00:35:26,393 there may be more passion, 640 00:35:26,426 --> 00:35:29,128 may be more, to kill the wolf. 641 00:35:29,161 --> 00:35:30,997 There may be. 642 00:35:31,030 --> 00:35:33,533 And it's... it's a laser-seeking, 643 00:35:33,566 --> 00:35:36,969 hot-point on a politician's skin. 644 00:35:37,970 --> 00:35:39,972 And they are just, 645 00:35:40,006 --> 00:35:43,042 it's... it's pathetic. 646 00:35:43,075 --> 00:35:46,045 Members, if you'd really like to see what the wolves do 647 00:35:46,078 --> 00:35:47,780 in greater Minnesota, 648 00:35:47,814 --> 00:35:50,417 take a look online of the picture of the young man 649 00:35:50,450 --> 00:35:52,485 that was taken out of his sleeping bag 650 00:35:52,519 --> 00:35:55,121 while he was camping in northern Minnesota. 651 00:35:55,154 --> 00:35:58,057 And take a look at his skull, 652 00:35:58,090 --> 00:36:00,393 where there's staples, 653 00:36:00,427 --> 00:36:03,696 where the wolf took a big chunk out of his head. 654 00:36:03,730 --> 00:36:06,032 A wolf attack is incredibly rare. 655 00:36:06,065 --> 00:36:09,536 Matter of fact, there's only two recorded attacks 656 00:36:09,569 --> 00:36:12,639 in the entire United States in over a hundred years. 657 00:36:12,672 --> 00:36:15,575 Now, the last one just happened in Minnesota recently, 658 00:36:15,608 --> 00:36:17,944 and they... they shot and killed the wolf, 659 00:36:17,977 --> 00:36:19,946 and then they... they tested him for rabies, 660 00:36:19,979 --> 00:36:21,848 he did not have rabies, but what he had was 661 00:36:21,881 --> 00:36:23,683 he had an incredibly deformed jaw 662 00:36:23,716 --> 00:36:25,518 which prevented him from hunting. 663 00:36:25,552 --> 00:36:28,054 He had been kicked out of his pack, 664 00:36:28,087 --> 00:36:31,724 and he was doing things that are not normal 665 00:36:31,758 --> 00:36:34,527 wolf behavior for survival purposes. 666 00:36:34,561 --> 00:36:37,630 Management is very much needed. 667 00:36:37,664 --> 00:36:40,767 I suggest that we let the DNR do their job, 668 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,704 and for those of us that live in greater Minnesota, 669 00:36:44,737 --> 00:36:47,006 where we have wolves, 670 00:36:47,039 --> 00:36:49,108 where we see wolves, 671 00:36:49,141 --> 00:36:51,010 they're not just little German Shepherds 672 00:36:51,043 --> 00:36:52,779 that live in your backyard. 673 00:36:52,812 --> 00:36:55,147 They're big wolves, and they're a problem. 674 00:36:55,181 --> 00:36:57,750 I truly believe that the problem comes from 675 00:36:57,784 --> 00:36:59,619 too many wolves. 676 00:36:59,652 --> 00:37:03,022 I'm not against the wolf, the wolf is a beautiful animal 677 00:37:03,055 --> 00:37:05,057 when he's where he belongs. 678 00:37:05,091 --> 00:37:09,496 Um, but he's not that beautiful when he's in my cow yard. 679 00:37:09,529 --> 00:37:13,800 We, um... I see a lot of T-shirts around here today 680 00:37:13,833 --> 00:37:16,035 that says, "howling wolves" on it, 681 00:37:16,068 --> 00:37:18,905 um, you know if I'm laying in my bed in a motel 682 00:37:18,938 --> 00:37:20,873 down here in the cities and I hear a wolf howl, 683 00:37:20,907 --> 00:37:22,642 that's a beautiful sound, 684 00:37:22,675 --> 00:37:24,844 but when I'm layin' in my bed at home, 685 00:37:24,877 --> 00:37:27,013 and my wife and I hear a wolf howl, 686 00:37:27,046 --> 00:37:29,015 it means we better hit the floor running, 687 00:37:29,048 --> 00:37:32,552 because he's probably after one of our livestock in the yard. 688 00:37:32,585 --> 00:37:34,754 The concern that the farmers have expressed 689 00:37:34,787 --> 00:37:37,256 is that their cattle or livestock 690 00:37:37,289 --> 00:37:39,125 will be taken by wolves. 691 00:37:39,158 --> 00:37:42,995 And as a result of that, they supported wolf hunts 692 00:37:43,029 --> 00:37:46,499 in this state for many, many years in Minnesota. 693 00:37:46,533 --> 00:37:48,835 We've gone back and we've reviewed 694 00:37:48,868 --> 00:37:51,871 some of the data on this. 695 00:37:51,904 --> 00:37:56,175 There are 165,000 cows and cattle 696 00:37:56,208 --> 00:37:58,811 in wolf territory in the state of Minnesota. 697 00:37:58,845 --> 00:38:01,180 And that's the principle farming group 698 00:38:01,213 --> 00:38:03,249 that's concerned about depredation, 699 00:38:03,282 --> 00:38:05,752 or the taking of livestock by wolves. 700 00:38:05,785 --> 00:38:08,555 What we learned last year, and this is very typical... 701 00:38:08,588 --> 00:38:13,159 in 2012, there were only 81 verified cases 702 00:38:13,192 --> 00:38:16,763 of livestock losses in the state of Minnesota. 703 00:38:16,796 --> 00:38:21,000 That's 81 out of 165,000. 704 00:38:21,033 --> 00:38:23,970 Now in our judgment, that doesn't constitute the basis for a hunt. 705 00:38:24,003 --> 00:38:27,607 We understand farmers are making a living, 706 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:29,008 we understand many of these farmers 707 00:38:29,041 --> 00:38:32,278 are using non-lethal techniques, not all, 708 00:38:32,311 --> 00:38:35,848 we strongly urge the USDA to work more closely 709 00:38:35,882 --> 00:38:38,785 with these farmers, and the DNR to ensure 710 00:38:38,818 --> 00:38:42,622 that they're taking all non-lethal actions possible, 711 00:38:42,655 --> 00:38:46,192 and that could mean different lighting techniques, 712 00:38:46,225 --> 00:38:48,995 flaggery, which is simply small flags 713 00:38:49,028 --> 00:38:50,763 that seem to discourage wolves, 714 00:38:50,797 --> 00:38:53,633 llamas, guard dogs, burroughs, 715 00:38:53,666 --> 00:38:56,235 we know they work, a lot of research has been done, 716 00:38:56,268 --> 00:38:57,837 both in Minnesota and Wisconsin, 717 00:38:57,870 --> 00:38:59,138 and out west. 718 00:38:59,171 --> 00:39:00,907 Non-lethal methods are effective, 719 00:39:00,940 --> 00:39:02,775 but when they don't work, 720 00:39:02,809 --> 00:39:04,243 we understand the need at times 721 00:39:04,276 --> 00:39:05,945 to take offending wolves, 722 00:39:05,978 --> 00:39:08,748 but that doesn't constitute the basis for a hunt. 723 00:39:08,781 --> 00:39:10,650 If you've got a wolf, you know, 724 00:39:10,683 --> 00:39:12,284 moving around your farm land, 725 00:39:12,318 --> 00:39:14,654 you need to do something to strengthen your boundaries, 726 00:39:14,687 --> 00:39:17,690 and reinforce your territory, so that wolf knows 727 00:39:17,724 --> 00:39:20,893 when he's transgressing out of his range. 728 00:39:20,927 --> 00:39:23,362 There's the emotional level, 729 00:39:23,395 --> 00:39:25,665 where when our livestock get predated on, 730 00:39:25,698 --> 00:39:27,900 that we don't overly react emotionally 731 00:39:27,934 --> 00:39:29,368 out of old stories. 732 00:39:29,401 --> 00:39:31,971 So it's negotiating that space, too. 733 00:39:32,004 --> 00:39:33,139 We got lots of folk who are, 734 00:39:33,172 --> 00:39:34,974 sort of, crazy wolf-lovers, 735 00:39:35,007 --> 00:39:37,644 and don't necessarily always want to appreciate 736 00:39:37,677 --> 00:39:40,046 the reality of what wolves mean in the world. 737 00:39:40,079 --> 00:39:43,182 Yes, they predate. They are hunters. They're carnivores. 738 00:39:43,215 --> 00:39:49,922 I handed out for you a story from the April 7th, 2012 edition 739 00:39:49,956 --> 00:39:52,090 and so you don't have to read it, I'll just kind of read you 740 00:39:52,091 --> 00:39:54,994 a few quotes out of it. 741 00:39:55,027 --> 00:39:57,129 I had this constituent, and this is what it says, 742 00:39:57,163 --> 00:39:59,866 she was pruning some bushes near her deck, 743 00:39:59,899 --> 00:40:03,235 stood up and turned around, and quote, 744 00:40:03,269 --> 00:40:07,740 "and there was a big, black wolf baring his teeth, 745 00:40:07,774 --> 00:40:12,211 very close, just a few feet away." 746 00:40:12,244 --> 00:40:14,013 She took a few steps towards the house, 747 00:40:14,046 --> 00:40:16,115 but to her dismay, she saw another wolf 748 00:40:16,148 --> 00:40:19,852 smaller, grey, and mangy-looking about eight feet away, 749 00:40:19,886 --> 00:40:23,890 between her and the house. 750 00:40:23,923 --> 00:40:27,093 She slowly backed away from both animals to her truck, 751 00:40:27,126 --> 00:40:28,761 as she unlocked her truck, she said, 752 00:40:28,795 --> 00:40:31,731 "the wolves hunched down and growled at me." 753 00:40:31,764 --> 00:40:33,733 That's a quote. 754 00:40:33,766 --> 00:40:35,735 When she got into her truck, she honked the horn, 755 00:40:35,768 --> 00:40:39,005 but the wolves stayed put 756 00:40:39,038 --> 00:40:41,674 and barked at her. 757 00:40:41,708 --> 00:40:43,776 Members, that's a real experience, 758 00:40:43,810 --> 00:40:46,245 that are happening, maybe not every day, 759 00:40:46,278 --> 00:40:48,214 but every week 760 00:40:48,247 --> 00:40:53,119 where wolves really live, because they're over-populated. 761 00:40:53,152 --> 00:40:55,254 The secretary will take the roll. 762 00:41:04,030 --> 00:41:05,331 That was it, so, 763 00:41:05,364 --> 00:41:06,933 they were done, it was a done deal. 764 00:41:06,966 --> 00:41:08,366 And I wasn't sure what I was going to do. 765 00:41:08,367 --> 00:41:10,269 I left there and I thought, oh my goodness, 766 00:41:10,302 --> 00:41:12,872 what is going on? And I approached the legislature, 767 00:41:12,905 --> 00:41:15,207 his name is representative David dill, 768 00:41:15,241 --> 00:41:17,877 he is a democrat out of crane lake, 769 00:41:17,910 --> 00:41:19,745 and I approached him in the hall near the elevators 770 00:41:19,746 --> 00:41:21,413 and I said, have you considered 771 00:41:21,447 --> 00:41:23,783 the ecological benefits of the wolf? You know, 772 00:41:23,816 --> 00:41:25,751 even if you're a hunter, even if you're an angler, 773 00:41:25,752 --> 00:41:28,287 no matter who you are, whether you're a wildlife viewer, 774 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:33,893 a hunter, an angler, somebody who believes in keeping ecology intact, 775 00:41:33,926 --> 00:41:37,196 you have to believe that the wolf is a necessary part of that. 776 00:41:37,229 --> 00:41:40,867 And he basically said to me, "oh, nobody's talked about that." 777 00:41:40,900 --> 00:41:42,533 And then he kind of caught himself, 'cause he realized, 778 00:41:42,534 --> 00:41:45,471 well that's a reason to have somebody testify. 779 00:41:45,504 --> 00:41:48,040 And he started panicking, seriously. 780 00:41:48,074 --> 00:41:50,176 He was running from the elevator button 781 00:41:50,209 --> 00:41:52,945 when it didn't come right away to another elevator button, 782 00:41:52,979 --> 00:41:55,748 saying, "there will be a wolf hunt this year." 783 00:41:55,782 --> 00:41:57,548 And I looked at him, 'cause he like running away from me, 784 00:41:57,549 --> 00:41:59,185 and I was the only one in the hall, 785 00:41:59,218 --> 00:42:02,789 and I'm a short-statured, small-statured woman, 786 00:42:02,822 --> 00:42:04,423 and he was much taller, and I said, 787 00:42:04,456 --> 00:42:06,358 I'm not chasing you. 788 00:42:06,392 --> 00:42:07,994 You don't have to run. 789 00:42:08,027 --> 00:42:11,063 But I think he knew that he was basically facing 790 00:42:11,097 --> 00:42:13,165 what he was gonna face soon. 791 00:42:13,199 --> 00:42:14,767 This year, wolves lost 792 00:42:14,801 --> 00:42:16,936 their endangered species protection. 793 00:42:16,969 --> 00:42:19,038 Wolves keep forests and streams healthy, 794 00:42:19,071 --> 00:42:20,406 they're wilderness allies. 795 00:42:20,439 --> 00:42:22,909 50% of wolf pups die of starvation, 796 00:42:22,942 --> 00:42:24,443 and many wolves are poached. 797 00:42:24,476 --> 00:42:25,978 While Minnesota's original plan 798 00:42:26,012 --> 00:42:27,780 had a five-year waiting period, 799 00:42:27,814 --> 00:42:29,215 a new wolf hunting and trapping bill 800 00:42:29,248 --> 00:42:31,417 is now being passed by the legislature 801 00:42:31,450 --> 00:42:33,319 with no regard to its impact. 802 00:42:33,352 --> 00:42:35,487 We are recklessly endangering our wolves. 803 00:42:35,521 --> 00:42:38,024 Tell governor Dayton to stop the wolf hunt. 804 00:42:38,057 --> 00:42:41,193 We are about to lose all that we worked so hard to save. 805 00:42:41,227 --> 00:42:43,195 Don't silence our wilderness. 806 00:42:54,273 --> 00:42:57,076 Studies suggest that the wolf became the dog 807 00:42:57,109 --> 00:42:59,211 when wolves began to follow hunters 808 00:42:59,245 --> 00:43:02,281 to scavenge on the kills that they had left behind. 809 00:43:02,314 --> 00:43:05,184 And in the process, some became isolated 810 00:43:05,217 --> 00:43:09,088 from other wolves, and migrated along with people. 811 00:43:09,121 --> 00:43:11,523 And over time, the human family 812 00:43:11,557 --> 00:43:13,259 became their pack. 813 00:43:13,292 --> 00:43:15,094 Good girl. 814 00:43:15,127 --> 00:43:17,396 Say goodbye to mama, come up. 815 00:43:18,530 --> 00:43:20,867 I'm gonna miss you. 816 00:43:20,900 --> 00:43:22,869 Be good. 817 00:43:22,902 --> 00:43:25,071 Be a good girl. 818 00:43:25,104 --> 00:43:27,073 Okay. 819 00:43:33,980 --> 00:43:36,348 I think it's safe to say 700, at least, 820 00:43:36,382 --> 00:43:38,150 wolves were killed this season. 821 00:43:38,184 --> 00:43:40,119 So if you look at the rough numbers, 822 00:43:40,152 --> 00:43:43,422 it's about a fourth of the wolves. 823 00:43:43,455 --> 00:43:44,615 - Right? Is that fair? - Yeah. 824 00:43:44,623 --> 00:43:47,226 A quarter of the wolves. Yeah. 825 00:43:47,259 --> 00:43:49,428 So, you know, I guess the argument 826 00:43:49,461 --> 00:43:51,630 that a lot of people have who are concerned about this 827 00:43:51,663 --> 00:43:53,565 is that that's a lot of wolves. 828 00:43:53,599 --> 00:43:56,168 - What... - and even if it's a thousand, 829 00:43:56,202 --> 00:43:59,138 which would be a third of the population... 830 00:43:59,171 --> 00:44:02,641 - which it could be. - That's still within the range of... 831 00:44:02,674 --> 00:44:07,279 of what's been identified as, um... 832 00:44:07,313 --> 00:44:10,016 a number that... that may be sustainable. 833 00:44:10,049 --> 00:44:13,252 Has anybody ever stud... studied long-term effects 834 00:44:13,285 --> 00:44:15,487 on wolves and wolf packs when you go in 835 00:44:15,521 --> 00:44:20,192 and you start taking out pack members? 836 00:44:20,226 --> 00:44:26,498 There's been studies looking at... at wolf pack dynamics, not specifically, 837 00:44:26,532 --> 00:44:30,202 not necessarily, you know, measuring this influence 838 00:44:30,236 --> 00:44:32,504 of hunting or trapping, but, you know, 839 00:44:32,538 --> 00:44:35,607 through radio-collared studies of wolves, 840 00:44:35,641 --> 00:44:38,477 there's been, um, 841 00:44:38,510 --> 00:44:40,980 documented, high turn-over rates 842 00:44:41,013 --> 00:44:43,482 in wolf packs. 843 00:44:43,515 --> 00:44:47,453 So there is a high mortality level there, 844 00:44:47,486 --> 00:44:49,621 there already without hunting and trapping, 845 00:44:49,655 --> 00:44:51,257 wolves can get hit by cars, 846 00:44:51,290 --> 00:44:53,960 they can get trapped for depredation control, 847 00:44:53,993 --> 00:44:56,996 they get killed by other wolves, 848 00:44:57,029 --> 00:45:00,466 and there is this 849 00:45:00,499 --> 00:45:04,636 you know, pretty steady change-over in wolf pack structure. 850 00:45:04,670 --> 00:45:06,505 But I've never... I've never seen, 851 00:45:06,538 --> 00:45:07,639 and you may have something, 852 00:45:07,673 --> 00:45:09,075 but I've never seen, 853 00:45:09,108 --> 00:45:12,178 you know, long-term research done. 854 00:45:12,211 --> 00:45:14,411 'Cause we're talking statistics, we're talking... right. 855 00:45:14,413 --> 00:45:16,315 Numbers... 856 00:45:16,348 --> 00:45:18,517 Yeah, I mean it's... and I... 857 00:45:18,550 --> 00:45:21,287 and yeah, there... that has not, 858 00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:24,690 like I said, has not been studied specifically. 859 00:45:24,723 --> 00:45:26,425 Whether or not hunting and trapping 860 00:45:26,458 --> 00:45:30,963 has an influence on the stability of wolf packs, 861 00:45:30,997 --> 00:45:32,331 population wide, 862 00:45:32,364 --> 00:45:33,966 I mean certainly on an individual level, 863 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:38,704 you're gonna kill a breeding animal, 864 00:45:38,737 --> 00:45:41,107 but there's other animals in the population 865 00:45:41,140 --> 00:45:42,660 that come in and replace those animals. 866 00:45:45,344 --> 00:45:47,679 The DNR never, um, 867 00:45:47,713 --> 00:45:49,648 brings any attention to that fact that, 868 00:45:49,681 --> 00:45:54,086 you know, it's not just blatantly killing animals, 869 00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,088 it's... it's actually wiping out 870 00:45:56,122 --> 00:46:00,259 this very cohesive system that packs have. 871 00:46:00,292 --> 00:46:02,628 We've lost sight of that a bit in our thinking 872 00:46:02,661 --> 00:46:05,664 about management of wildlife and management 873 00:46:05,697 --> 00:46:07,099 of wolves today. 874 00:46:07,133 --> 00:46:09,768 Clearly with the wolf hunt mentality, 875 00:46:09,801 --> 00:46:12,004 and talking to Dan stark at the DNR, 876 00:46:12,038 --> 00:46:13,572 you know, they think about... 877 00:46:13,605 --> 00:46:17,443 they think about the wolves as, you know, just numbers. 878 00:46:17,476 --> 00:46:19,578 They don't think about them as being 879 00:46:19,611 --> 00:46:23,515 feeling, sentient beings who, 880 00:46:23,549 --> 00:46:27,153 if you take out... certainly if you take out the top member, 881 00:46:27,186 --> 00:46:30,122 the breeding pair, it's devastating to the pack, 882 00:46:30,156 --> 00:46:32,724 but even if you take out other members of the pack, 883 00:46:32,758 --> 00:46:36,095 it's... it's not like you come in and replace these, 884 00:46:36,128 --> 00:46:38,064 you can't replace a relationship. 885 00:46:38,097 --> 00:46:40,232 You can't... you can't replace the value 886 00:46:40,266 --> 00:46:45,171 that that one wolf has in the pack. 887 00:46:45,204 --> 00:46:48,507 Here is an array of portraits, 888 00:46:48,540 --> 00:46:53,512 wolves from the past in the neighborhood. 889 00:46:53,545 --> 00:46:55,481 It was a core pack of eight or so, 890 00:46:55,514 --> 00:46:58,217 with 19 wolves that we counted 891 00:46:58,250 --> 00:47:01,120 over the years when this was done. 892 00:47:01,153 --> 00:47:03,222 These I think around 15, 893 00:47:03,255 --> 00:47:06,525 with just personal names for me to remember. 894 00:47:06,558 --> 00:47:09,328 Broken foot, crooked ear, 895 00:47:09,361 --> 00:47:12,431 blind one-eye, beautiful one, 896 00:47:12,464 --> 00:47:14,166 this one was the papa. 897 00:47:14,200 --> 00:47:16,168 This was the Alpha male that was shot 898 00:47:16,202 --> 00:47:19,738 before the hunting started, illegal hunting, 899 00:47:19,771 --> 00:47:22,674 it was shot illegally not far from here. 900 00:47:22,708 --> 00:47:27,446 I was very familiar with 19 wolves 901 00:47:27,479 --> 00:47:29,481 here on Ravenwood, one year, 902 00:47:29,515 --> 00:47:31,083 when they were really doing well. 903 00:47:31,117 --> 00:47:33,085 Lots of deer around. 904 00:47:33,119 --> 00:47:35,854 I photographed each one, gave each one a name, 905 00:47:35,887 --> 00:47:37,323 had a little portrait of each one 906 00:47:37,356 --> 00:47:39,825 with a little name underneath. 907 00:47:39,858 --> 00:47:42,094 The Alpha male was killed by a hunter 908 00:47:42,128 --> 00:47:43,662 less than a mile from here. 909 00:47:43,695 --> 00:47:45,264 I know who did it. 910 00:47:45,297 --> 00:47:46,865 I asked them to be careful, 911 00:47:46,898 --> 00:47:49,201 I talked to them before the hunt. 912 00:47:49,235 --> 00:47:51,703 They were setting up their hunting camp, 913 00:47:51,737 --> 00:47:55,307 I said, please be careful, there are a lot of wolves here, 914 00:47:55,341 --> 00:47:56,842 I know it's tempting. 915 00:47:56,875 --> 00:48:01,447 This is long before the wolf hunt. 916 00:48:01,480 --> 00:48:03,682 It's hard to talk about this. 917 00:48:03,715 --> 00:48:05,617 This was about three years ago. 918 00:48:05,651 --> 00:48:10,256 And, uh... we found that, uh... the Alpha male, blackie, 919 00:48:10,289 --> 00:48:13,392 was killed of this pack, 920 00:48:13,425 --> 00:48:14,825 the wolf I'd been photographing and watching 921 00:48:14,826 --> 00:48:18,397 for three, four years. 922 00:48:22,168 --> 00:48:25,904 Biggest footprint I've ever seen on a wolf. Interesting looking wolf. 923 00:48:25,937 --> 00:48:28,540 He was pure black, and I watched him turn grey. 924 00:48:40,819 --> 00:48:43,289 But he'd been radio-collared. 925 00:48:43,322 --> 00:48:47,559 The hunter didn't want anyone to find out 926 00:48:47,593 --> 00:48:49,395 where he killed the wolf, 927 00:48:49,428 --> 00:48:51,697 so he snipped off the radio collar and dropped it off 928 00:48:51,730 --> 00:48:54,900 near Ely to throw off the signal. 929 00:48:54,933 --> 00:48:57,269 I know, basically, who did it. 930 00:48:57,303 --> 00:48:59,371 Uh, changed my life, 931 00:48:59,405 --> 00:49:02,674 changed the wolf... the wolf pack was totally different after that, 932 00:49:02,708 --> 00:49:04,710 totally, they seemed to disperse. 933 00:49:04,743 --> 00:49:06,578 Everything was different. 934 00:49:06,612 --> 00:49:09,215 I couldn't make hide nor hair of it. 935 00:49:09,248 --> 00:49:11,450 They... they disappeared. 936 00:49:11,483 --> 00:49:13,319 Uh, everything changed. 937 00:49:13,352 --> 00:49:14,653 I changed. 938 00:49:50,922 --> 00:49:53,725 I have not really photographed wolves since then. 939 00:49:53,759 --> 00:49:55,661 It broke my heart. 940 00:49:55,694 --> 00:49:57,696 It really destroyed me, in some sense. 941 00:49:57,729 --> 00:49:59,798 I've not been the same. 942 00:49:59,831 --> 00:50:02,968 It... it broke... it drove me to tears. 943 00:50:18,950 --> 00:50:21,787 Stop the hunt! 944 00:50:21,820 --> 00:50:24,690 Stop the hunt! 945 00:50:24,723 --> 00:50:27,359 Stop the hunt! 946 00:50:27,393 --> 00:50:29,961 Stop the hunt! 947 00:50:29,995 --> 00:50:33,699 Stop the hunt! 948 00:50:33,732 --> 00:50:36,868 We know in Minnesota the one survey that was conducted 949 00:50:36,902 --> 00:50:38,637 by the department of natural resources 950 00:50:38,670 --> 00:50:40,439 before the hunt began. 951 00:50:40,472 --> 00:50:44,009 In that single survey, 79% of the respondents 952 00:50:44,042 --> 00:50:46,812 opposed the season, yet they went ahead with it. 953 00:50:46,845 --> 00:50:49,881 Stop the hunt! 954 00:51:48,707 --> 00:51:51,510 Minnesota is special. 955 00:51:51,543 --> 00:51:55,747 We are special here because we have always had wolves. 956 00:51:55,781 --> 00:51:57,949 When they were down in 1970, 957 00:51:57,983 --> 00:52:00,085 the endangered threatened species act, 958 00:52:00,118 --> 00:52:02,521 in my opinion, was written with the wolf in mind. 959 00:52:02,554 --> 00:52:04,590 And we were the only state that had 'em, 960 00:52:04,623 --> 00:52:07,859 and the reason we had 'em, wasn't 'cause of anything we've done, 961 00:52:07,893 --> 00:52:10,496 it was because we had wild lands 962 00:52:10,529 --> 00:52:12,364 where they could find refuge. 963 00:52:12,398 --> 00:52:14,500 You know who I feel like I'm fighting to protect 964 00:52:14,533 --> 00:52:16,635 the environment from? The DNR! 965 00:52:20,071 --> 00:52:22,441 Hello, this is Jane Goodall. 966 00:52:22,474 --> 00:52:24,776 I really wish I could be in Minnesota 967 00:52:24,810 --> 00:52:28,947 to greet you in person, but I am thinking of you. 968 00:52:28,980 --> 00:52:31,850 There you are, gathered to make your views known 969 00:52:31,883 --> 00:52:34,886 to those who have the power of making decisions. 970 00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:37,389 They're absolutely neat, your wolves. 971 00:52:37,423 --> 00:52:41,059 The only population in the lower 48 states 972 00:52:41,092 --> 00:52:43,462 that wasn't exterminated. 973 00:52:43,495 --> 00:52:46,498 I personally have a real love for wolves. 974 00:52:46,532 --> 00:52:49,901 They show all the characteristics of loyalty and courage 975 00:52:49,935 --> 00:52:52,904 that we admire in our own domestic dogs. 976 00:52:52,938 --> 00:52:56,675 They have similar emotions, such as contentment and fear. 977 00:52:56,708 --> 00:52:58,910 They know suffering and pain. 978 00:52:58,944 --> 00:53:01,747 It's time that recreational hunting of wolves 979 00:53:01,780 --> 00:53:05,451 and other forms of persecution came to an end. 980 00:53:05,484 --> 00:53:07,052 And you, in Minnesota, 981 00:53:07,085 --> 00:53:10,121 by insisting on a just wolf-management plan, 982 00:53:10,155 --> 00:53:11,657 can lead the way. 983 00:53:32,578 --> 00:53:34,613 I would not kill a wolf. 984 00:53:34,646 --> 00:53:37,683 I know that, because he's here for a reason, 985 00:53:37,716 --> 00:53:39,451 just like I am. 986 00:53:39,485 --> 00:53:42,053 We all are here for a reason. 987 00:53:42,087 --> 00:53:44,690 But we need to acknowledge that. 988 00:53:44,723 --> 00:53:46,524 And then we went to the fond de lac reservation 989 00:53:46,525 --> 00:53:49,961 and we had a ceremony honoring the wolf. 990 00:53:49,995 --> 00:53:51,963 Um, it... actually, 991 00:53:51,997 --> 00:53:54,099 that was extremely moving. 992 00:53:54,132 --> 00:53:56,635 Um, it was sad to me, because the... 993 00:53:56,668 --> 00:53:58,670 the Ojibwe culture really values the wolf, 994 00:53:58,704 --> 00:54:00,639 and the people there, um... 995 00:54:00,672 --> 00:54:02,941 they were talking about how the wolf would hide in caves, 996 00:54:02,974 --> 00:54:05,744 the wolf would escape. They were... they were trying to think 997 00:54:05,777 --> 00:54:07,512 of any way that they could cope with the fact 998 00:54:07,513 --> 00:54:09,047 that these wolves were gonna be killed. 999 00:54:09,080 --> 00:54:11,983 By the time we drove back to the twin cities that day, 1000 00:54:12,017 --> 00:54:13,685 November 3rd, 2012, 1001 00:54:13,719 --> 00:54:16,488 we'd already had seven wolves killed. 1002 00:54:23,762 --> 00:54:26,231 I think it was Edward Abby said something about 1003 00:54:26,264 --> 00:54:27,999 if we destroy the last of the wilderness, 1004 00:54:28,033 --> 00:54:29,701 I mean, we destroy the very, 1005 00:54:29,735 --> 00:54:31,202 we're threatening the very idea 1006 00:54:31,236 --> 00:54:33,104 of freedom itself. 1007 00:54:33,138 --> 00:54:34,806 It's what makes us a people. 1008 00:54:34,840 --> 00:54:37,609 It's not just some abstract thing out there 1009 00:54:37,643 --> 00:54:39,611 for recreation to go visit in a canoe, 1010 00:54:39,645 --> 00:54:41,547 or backpacking or something, 1011 00:54:41,580 --> 00:54:42,848 it's what we are as a people. 1012 00:54:42,881 --> 00:54:44,282 And we need to hang on to it, 1013 00:54:44,315 --> 00:54:46,885 we've got to fight corporations. 1014 00:54:46,918 --> 00:54:49,655 We've got to fight this recreation industrial complex 1015 00:54:49,688 --> 00:54:53,291 that's threatening these precious wild lands that are so diverse. 1016 00:54:53,324 --> 00:54:58,697 The foundation that... that supports our being here today 1017 00:54:58,730 --> 00:55:00,766 is all the micro-organisms in the soil 1018 00:55:00,799 --> 00:55:03,301 and the plants and the animals that walk on it, 1019 00:55:03,334 --> 00:55:05,771 the animals that swim and the animals that fly. 1020 00:55:05,804 --> 00:55:08,640 We're all intertwined, it's that great web of life. 1021 00:55:08,674 --> 00:55:10,909 In Mahingan, the wolf, he's our brother, 1022 00:55:10,942 --> 00:55:12,077 he's right there with us. 1023 00:55:12,110 --> 00:55:14,946 We walk the earth with him. 1024 00:55:14,980 --> 00:55:17,215 I found that there are many indigenous cultures 1025 00:55:17,248 --> 00:55:21,152 in the world that have always revered the wolf. 1026 00:55:21,186 --> 00:55:24,289 I interviewed chi-Mahingan, which means "big wolf" 1027 00:55:24,322 --> 00:55:26,224 from the red lake nation. 1028 00:55:26,257 --> 00:55:28,026 For the Ojibwe people, 1029 00:55:28,059 --> 00:55:30,829 there's no separation between the wolf and them. 1030 00:55:30,862 --> 00:55:35,601 The wolf holds the medicine and teaches humility. 1031 00:55:35,634 --> 00:55:37,903 You know, one of the first designs that was created 1032 00:55:37,936 --> 00:55:40,606 was a circle. 1033 00:55:40,639 --> 00:55:43,241 And everything after that was placed inside the circle. 1034 00:55:45,376 --> 00:55:49,047 And therefore, everything moves in the circle. 1035 00:55:53,151 --> 00:55:57,055 Even the human, from childhood to childhood, 1036 00:55:57,088 --> 00:55:59,057 the seasons go in circle. 1037 00:56:01,226 --> 00:56:04,830 All the stars, the sun, the moon, the earth, 1038 00:56:04,863 --> 00:56:06,598 it always moves in a circle. 1039 00:56:10,902 --> 00:56:14,205 And what that creates is what they call a rhythm. 1040 00:56:14,239 --> 00:56:16,574 There's a universal rhythm. 1041 00:56:19,845 --> 00:56:22,981 And I... and I kinda joke about that, too, you know, 1042 00:56:23,014 --> 00:56:24,650 saying everything tries to be round, 1043 00:56:24,683 --> 00:56:27,052 they say everything a Indian does tries to be round. 1044 00:56:27,085 --> 00:56:28,954 I try to be round. 1045 00:56:30,656 --> 00:56:32,624 They are, traditionally Indians are round. 1046 00:56:32,658 --> 00:56:33,625 You have continuity. 1047 00:56:35,193 --> 00:56:38,129 Today they told the animals 1048 00:56:38,163 --> 00:56:40,165 to take care of their brother, 1049 00:56:40,198 --> 00:56:42,400 the human being. 1050 00:56:42,433 --> 00:56:43,802 Otherwise, 1051 00:56:43,835 --> 00:56:47,973 the human being would not have survived. 1052 00:56:49,975 --> 00:56:55,413 The animal people, yes, we will watch our brother. 1053 00:56:55,446 --> 00:56:59,350 We will give them our hide, we will give them our flesh. 1054 00:56:59,384 --> 00:57:01,920 We'll give them our bones so they can live. 1055 00:57:04,055 --> 00:57:06,892 So we know that, said the animal people. 1056 00:57:08,960 --> 00:57:12,998 And today we're gonna pay the animal people, 1057 00:57:13,031 --> 00:57:15,166 especially the wolf, we're gonna pay him back 1058 00:57:15,200 --> 00:57:17,335 by killing him. 1059 00:57:18,804 --> 00:57:20,438 Medicine, 1060 00:57:20,471 --> 00:57:22,808 when I think of... 1061 00:57:25,744 --> 00:57:27,946 The role it has in bringing us back 1062 00:57:27,979 --> 00:57:31,783 to our own center of integrity, 1063 00:57:31,817 --> 00:57:33,752 which means wholeness, basically. 1064 00:57:33,785 --> 00:57:35,721 Where our own regenerative health powers 1065 00:57:35,754 --> 00:57:38,389 can find their balance again. 1066 00:57:38,423 --> 00:57:42,728 In that sense, medicine is a catalyst. 1067 00:57:42,761 --> 00:57:45,163 And I see the wolf, 1068 00:57:47,966 --> 00:57:50,769 in a sense, one can say the wolf is medicine. 1069 00:57:54,039 --> 00:57:55,941 But then that raises, for me, another question, 1070 00:57:55,974 --> 00:57:58,209 which is, well what are we ailing from? 1071 00:57:58,243 --> 00:58:00,011 What is the ailment? 1072 00:58:00,045 --> 00:58:02,247 And I think when one looks around the lands, 1073 00:58:02,280 --> 00:58:04,082 across the world, there is one, 1074 00:58:04,115 --> 00:58:05,951 in this time we live in, 1075 00:58:05,984 --> 00:58:07,452 the ailment that we... 1076 00:58:07,485 --> 00:58:11,022 we struggle with, is fear. 1077 00:58:11,056 --> 00:58:14,192 It is fear of the enemy. It is fear of the neighbor. It is fear of the self. 1078 00:58:14,225 --> 00:58:15,861 It is fear of power. It is fear of love. 1079 00:58:15,894 --> 00:58:17,763 It is fear of so many things. 1080 00:58:17,796 --> 00:58:20,331 Fear of the loss of livelihood, 1081 00:58:20,365 --> 00:58:23,735 in the case of those living directly with wolves, 1082 00:58:23,769 --> 00:58:25,135 and all these fear elements, for me, 1083 00:58:25,136 --> 00:58:28,506 are directly embodied by the wolf. 1084 00:58:28,539 --> 00:58:31,042 The wolf is a great mirror towards us. 1085 00:58:31,076 --> 00:58:32,443 We have so many similarities, 1086 00:58:32,477 --> 00:58:35,881 and as you talk about in that Ojibwe myth, 1087 00:58:37,949 --> 00:58:40,318 the wolf is, in a sense, our partner, 1088 00:58:40,351 --> 00:58:43,521 and our brother, and was in the past. 1089 00:58:43,554 --> 00:58:46,024 And I think going forward, there is, 1090 00:58:46,057 --> 00:58:49,127 if one looks at the wolf as a medicine in that sense, 1091 00:58:49,160 --> 00:58:51,429 there's really much that we can learn, 1092 00:58:51,462 --> 00:58:53,464 in our current society, from the wolf. 1093 00:58:57,302 --> 00:58:58,870 Inspired by the idea 1094 00:58:58,904 --> 00:59:02,007 of the wolf as a symbol of medicine, 1095 00:59:02,040 --> 00:59:03,975 I decided to go to California 1096 00:59:04,009 --> 00:59:06,211 and spend time with the group that is doing something 1097 00:59:06,244 --> 00:59:11,349 very unique with wolves, wolf-dogs and people. 1098 00:59:15,854 --> 00:59:17,388 That was nice. 1099 00:59:19,958 --> 00:59:23,094 Thank you, wow, I feel special. 1100 00:59:23,128 --> 00:59:26,431 A wolf rehabilitation center in Acton, California 1101 00:59:26,464 --> 00:59:29,567 that believes strongly that the wolf has great value 1102 00:59:29,600 --> 00:59:32,503 and is a teacher that we can learn from. 1103 00:59:33,604 --> 00:59:35,874 And we're at a wolf hike they do. 1104 00:59:35,907 --> 00:59:39,510 Each month, they'll take people to see their wolves and wolf-dogs 1105 00:59:39,544 --> 00:59:41,546 and teach them about wolves. 1106 00:59:41,579 --> 00:59:44,883 They rehabilitate these animals, 1107 00:59:44,916 --> 00:59:47,819 and then they work with people and inner-city youths, 1108 00:59:47,853 --> 00:59:52,457 and people with PTSD, it's quite extraordinary what they do. 1109 00:59:52,490 --> 00:59:55,360 We have the kids come in, they're coming from all different backgrounds, 1110 00:59:55,393 --> 00:59:57,863 most of them are at-risk youth 1111 00:59:57,896 --> 01:00:00,031 coming from inner-city situations. 1112 01:00:00,065 --> 01:00:02,500 They've come from gang violence 1113 01:00:02,533 --> 01:00:06,604 and that kind of a thing, and they come in with their walls up, 1114 01:00:06,637 --> 01:00:09,140 always needing to protect themselves, make sure they're safe, 1115 01:00:09,174 --> 01:00:11,541 they come in, they've got their attitude, they've got their swagger 1116 01:00:11,542 --> 01:00:13,344 goin' on, and you know, they're like comin' in 1117 01:00:13,378 --> 01:00:16,181 and they're like, "whatever, what do you got to teach me?" 1118 01:00:16,214 --> 01:00:18,149 And they come in, they got their, you know, 1119 01:00:18,183 --> 01:00:19,450 earphones in and stuff, we go, 1120 01:00:19,484 --> 01:00:21,386 "take your earphones out," you know, 1121 01:00:21,419 --> 01:00:23,254 "hand 'em over," 1122 01:00:23,288 --> 01:00:25,556 "you're gonna stand here, you're gonna sit here 1123 01:00:25,590 --> 01:00:28,059 and we're gonna make a circle." 1124 01:00:28,093 --> 01:00:30,495 "And we're just gonna get really present." 1125 01:00:30,528 --> 01:00:33,965 "And the minute that they all truly drop in, 1126 01:00:33,999 --> 01:00:37,002 and let go of that stuff and center themselves, 1127 01:00:37,035 --> 01:00:40,105 the pack will actually begin to howl." 1128 01:00:49,214 --> 01:00:51,282 And this has happened numerous times, 1129 01:00:51,316 --> 01:00:56,054 and every single time the kids go... 1130 01:00:56,087 --> 01:00:58,256 "Oh my God!" 1131 01:00:58,289 --> 01:00:59,423 And for the rest of the program 1132 01:00:59,424 --> 01:01:00,992 they're putty in our hands, 1133 01:01:01,026 --> 01:01:02,227 it's incredible. 1134 01:01:10,235 --> 01:01:13,304 Oh, what a vicious wolf, 1135 01:01:15,106 --> 01:01:16,374 yes you are. 1136 01:01:18,243 --> 01:01:19,544 Yes you are. 1137 01:01:19,577 --> 01:01:22,047 You're a big vicious wolf. 1138 01:01:22,080 --> 01:01:25,116 Yes. 1139 01:01:27,318 --> 01:01:29,520 And inevitably, they'll pick one or two 1140 01:01:29,554 --> 01:01:32,357 particular wolves that they really feel 1141 01:01:32,390 --> 01:01:34,625 a connection with because of the story. 1142 01:01:34,659 --> 01:01:36,995 Then when they finally get to meet that wolf, 1143 01:01:37,028 --> 01:01:38,629 and they get to sit with that wolf, 1144 01:01:38,663 --> 01:01:42,600 and they get to look into the eyes of that wolf, 1145 01:01:42,633 --> 01:01:45,570 looking into the eyes of a wolf 1146 01:01:45,603 --> 01:01:50,341 it's like you're really seeing your own soul. 1147 01:01:50,375 --> 01:01:52,610 And that is incredibly healing. 1148 01:01:52,643 --> 01:01:55,146 You take a look at this, its posture, 1149 01:01:55,180 --> 01:01:58,516 and how big it is, and you would automatically be scared of it, 1150 01:01:58,549 --> 01:02:01,552 but in reality it's just... just a loving creature, 1151 01:02:01,586 --> 01:02:06,624 it just... it just wants to be loved like anybody and anything else, 1152 01:02:06,657 --> 01:02:08,059 it just wants to be loved. 1153 01:02:08,093 --> 01:02:09,427 It wants to be... 1154 01:02:10,561 --> 01:02:12,163 The de-listing of wolves. 1155 01:02:13,698 --> 01:02:17,135 You just have to... you just have to really just... 1156 01:02:23,374 --> 01:02:25,243 You just really just... 1157 01:02:26,611 --> 01:02:28,346 have to really... 1158 01:02:28,379 --> 01:02:29,714 if you really wanna help... 1159 01:02:34,285 --> 01:02:36,654 That's love right there. 1160 01:03:22,333 --> 01:03:24,169 Get my psychiatrist. 1161 01:03:29,240 --> 01:03:32,610 This is where I come, specifically, 1162 01:03:32,643 --> 01:03:35,646 besides the walking, is quite nice, 1163 01:03:35,680 --> 01:03:38,049 where things do feel better. 1164 01:03:38,083 --> 01:03:41,186 When I think about crisis-es in the world, 1165 01:03:41,219 --> 01:03:43,288 crisis-es happening around me, 1166 01:03:43,321 --> 01:03:45,223 especially with the wolves, 1167 01:03:45,256 --> 01:03:46,391 I feel better here. 1168 01:03:46,424 --> 01:03:49,194 And it helps me. 1169 01:03:49,227 --> 01:03:50,761 It's a time of re-evaluation. 1170 01:03:50,795 --> 01:03:52,797 That's what the wolves taught me. 1171 01:03:52,830 --> 01:03:55,166 In an odd way, right? 1172 01:03:55,200 --> 01:03:56,701 In a very odd way, 1173 01:03:56,734 --> 01:04:00,105 this whole wolf hunt has made me confront things 1174 01:04:00,138 --> 01:04:01,806 that I don't have answers for. 1175 01:04:01,839 --> 01:04:03,608 My investment and telling the story, 1176 01:04:03,641 --> 01:04:05,776 and seeing it was maybe wasted. 1177 01:04:05,810 --> 01:04:09,414 There's a lesson there, I have to get beyond that. 1178 01:04:09,447 --> 01:04:11,282 I have to think about that a little bit, 1179 01:04:11,316 --> 01:04:12,683 I'm pretty angry. 1180 01:04:12,717 --> 01:04:14,385 Anger is not a solution, 1181 01:04:14,419 --> 01:04:16,621 and something you shouldn't carry around with you. 1182 01:04:16,654 --> 01:04:18,523 I've been gone a lot because of that, 1183 01:04:18,556 --> 01:04:22,093 choose to, certainly during the hunting season. 1184 01:04:22,127 --> 01:04:24,695 The pups are born, there was a den nearby, 1185 01:04:24,729 --> 01:04:28,399 there were pups born, they're out there. 1186 01:04:28,433 --> 01:04:32,303 Uh, I'll think, well, like the first hunt, 1187 01:04:32,337 --> 01:04:35,373 the last wolf I photographed was blondie. 1188 01:04:35,406 --> 01:04:38,209 That was a wolf that was shot, and she was a pup. 1189 01:04:38,243 --> 01:04:40,545 She was nine months old. 1190 01:04:40,578 --> 01:04:42,347 I'm afraid to bond to these animals. 1191 01:04:42,380 --> 01:04:43,881 I've bonded to every, I knew, 1192 01:04:43,914 --> 01:04:46,484 I've probably known 30, or 40 wolves 1193 01:04:46,517 --> 01:04:49,820 like friends, over the years, 1194 01:04:49,854 --> 01:04:51,489 and I'm afraid to do that now. 1195 01:04:51,522 --> 01:04:52,690 It's been a couple years now 1196 01:04:52,723 --> 01:04:55,092 and it's not getting any better. 1197 01:04:56,527 --> 01:04:58,429 No. 1198 01:05:07,705 --> 01:05:09,607 I came back to Minnesota 1199 01:05:09,640 --> 01:05:11,776 for one last interview with Jim 1200 01:05:11,809 --> 01:05:15,780 before I was to wrap up the film. 1201 01:05:15,813 --> 01:05:17,582 But with another wolf hunt on the horizon, 1202 01:05:17,615 --> 01:05:20,751 it was a bit of a somber reunion. 1203 01:05:20,785 --> 01:05:23,221 But just as we were about to pack up, 1204 01:05:23,254 --> 01:05:26,924 Jim, with his unique ability for resilience, 1205 01:05:26,957 --> 01:05:29,927 said he had something he wanted to show us. 1206 01:05:29,960 --> 01:05:32,163 Something he had just found 1207 01:05:32,197 --> 01:05:33,831 that he hadn't shared with anyone before. 1208 01:05:35,833 --> 01:05:38,403 And I wondered in that moment 1209 01:05:38,436 --> 01:05:41,339 if Jim, too, was looking for some hope. 1210 01:05:48,379 --> 01:05:50,848 I can't explain it, it happens to me a lot. 1211 01:05:50,881 --> 01:05:52,950 I don't know what it is. 1212 01:05:52,983 --> 01:05:55,720 It isn't psychic, it's something else. 1213 01:05:55,753 --> 01:05:57,955 Just curiosity, because I'm so curious, 1214 01:05:57,988 --> 01:06:00,558 I eventually ran into something interesting. 1215 01:06:00,591 --> 01:06:03,461 I don't think this den necessarily pulled me 1216 01:06:03,494 --> 01:06:07,298 psychically, like "come see us, Jim," 1217 01:06:07,332 --> 01:06:08,899 but it almost feels like that because 1218 01:06:08,933 --> 01:06:10,668 it's happened to me enough times, 1219 01:06:10,701 --> 01:06:12,537 and especially here. 1220 01:06:12,570 --> 01:06:14,439 So just up around the corner, 1221 01:06:14,472 --> 01:06:16,741 I looked down and I saw the grass was all matted down, 1222 01:06:16,774 --> 01:06:18,375 I thought, someone came here for a picnic. 1223 01:06:18,376 --> 01:06:20,345 Except nobody comes here. 1224 01:06:20,378 --> 01:06:22,547 It was very unnatural looking, 1225 01:06:22,580 --> 01:06:24,349 so I just took... followed the trail up 1226 01:06:24,382 --> 01:06:27,818 and looked a little bit further, 1227 01:06:27,852 --> 01:06:32,223 and saw chewings on the tree. 1228 01:06:32,257 --> 01:06:34,325 I thought beaver? No. 1229 01:06:34,359 --> 01:06:36,527 Den. 1230 01:06:36,561 --> 01:06:38,263 Wolf den? Too fantastic. 1231 01:06:38,296 --> 01:06:41,232 Maybe fox or coyote. 1232 01:06:41,266 --> 01:06:42,967 Came up, 1233 01:06:44,535 --> 01:06:47,238 saw this, 1234 01:06:49,006 --> 01:06:51,476 virtually the minute I saw this den 1235 01:06:51,509 --> 01:06:55,380 within the minute, almost 15 seconds, 1236 01:06:55,413 --> 01:06:59,450 I was standing on a very supple twig, branch, 1237 01:06:59,484 --> 01:07:02,753 it let loose as I started walking toward the entrance, 1238 01:07:02,787 --> 01:07:06,624 just to look, I mean, I was 30, 40 feet. 1239 01:07:06,657 --> 01:07:09,660 Snapped me in the eye and it felt like a hammer hit me on the head. 1240 01:07:09,694 --> 01:07:12,697 So you've got the mixture of exaltation 1241 01:07:12,730 --> 01:07:15,566 of seeing a wolf den, 1242 01:07:15,600 --> 01:07:17,835 the same time getting spanked in the eye. 1243 01:07:17,868 --> 01:07:19,404 Just about knocked me out, 1244 01:07:19,437 --> 01:07:23,007 I knew I had a pretty serious eye injury, 1245 01:07:23,040 --> 01:07:26,010 and it just came to me, you're not supposed to be here. 1246 01:07:26,043 --> 01:07:28,646 I wouldn't have stayed here anyway, 1247 01:07:28,679 --> 01:07:30,615 'cause you can't be around wolf dens 1248 01:07:30,648 --> 01:07:31,982 without them possibly moving, 1249 01:07:32,016 --> 01:07:35,420 and I wanted to get out of here quick. 1250 01:07:35,453 --> 01:07:39,424 But the eye being injured by this twig 1251 01:07:39,457 --> 01:07:41,526 was too much to comprehend. 1252 01:07:41,559 --> 01:07:43,361 And I didn't know what to think, 1253 01:07:43,394 --> 01:07:45,363 except, is this another message? 1254 01:07:45,396 --> 01:07:48,032 Is this, come look at, come, here's the den, 1255 01:07:48,065 --> 01:07:49,634 but don't come in. 1256 01:08:05,550 --> 01:08:08,586 As an investigative reporter as I am, you wanna get the story, 1257 01:08:08,619 --> 01:08:10,888 you wanna tell every bit of the story, 1258 01:08:10,921 --> 01:08:12,657 but I'd done that in the arctic, 1259 01:08:12,690 --> 01:08:14,425 crawled into the den in the arctic, 1260 01:08:14,459 --> 01:08:16,761 and the wolves stayed there the whole summer. 1261 01:08:16,794 --> 01:08:18,863 They didn't move the den, they didn't leave. 1262 01:08:18,896 --> 01:08:20,129 But they were like family to me, 1263 01:08:20,130 --> 01:08:21,766 they trusted me. 1264 01:08:21,799 --> 01:08:23,534 These wolves don't trust me. 1265 01:08:23,568 --> 01:08:25,336 I haven't seen them with my eyes. 1266 01:08:25,370 --> 01:08:27,405 I've not seen the mother or father, 1267 01:08:27,438 --> 01:08:28,939 I don't know who these wolves are. 1268 01:08:28,973 --> 01:08:30,575 I've seen them on the trail cam, 1269 01:08:30,608 --> 01:08:32,041 but I've never seen them with my eye, 1270 01:08:32,042 --> 01:08:33,778 haven't heard them howl. 1271 01:08:33,811 --> 01:08:37,782 So it's haunting, it's nearly haunting to me. 1272 01:08:37,815 --> 01:08:41,419 So it's like finding 1273 01:08:41,452 --> 01:08:43,521 a treasure under your bed 1274 01:08:43,554 --> 01:08:45,523 that was always there, 1275 01:08:45,556 --> 01:08:47,692 I'm trying to think of another analogy, 1276 01:08:47,725 --> 01:08:51,529 in your cupboard, you find a stack of gold, 1277 01:08:51,562 --> 01:08:55,400 or a Rembrandt painting. 1278 01:08:55,433 --> 01:08:57,368 And I didn't know what to do with it, 1279 01:08:57,402 --> 01:08:59,003 except just get out of there quickly. 1280 01:08:59,036 --> 01:09:02,039 'Cause I know if I stayed, they'd move the pups. 1281 01:09:04,809 --> 01:09:06,076 Did you hear that? 1282 01:09:12,583 --> 01:09:15,686 What I've learned in life, I'm almost 70 years old now, 1283 01:09:15,720 --> 01:09:18,121 and I've learned that you really have to come in through the back door 1284 01:09:18,122 --> 01:09:19,724 to change people's attitudes. 1285 01:09:19,757 --> 01:09:21,892 You can't confront it head on, 1286 01:09:21,926 --> 01:09:23,828 and convince someone to stop drinking, 1287 01:09:23,861 --> 01:09:26,764 stop smoking, stop speeding, 1288 01:09:26,797 --> 01:09:28,966 stop killing wolves. 1289 01:09:28,999 --> 01:09:31,736 You... have to somehow come in the back door. 1290 01:09:31,769 --> 01:09:33,738 When I met you, 1291 01:09:33,771 --> 01:09:36,674 you're the only person I've worked with. 1292 01:09:36,707 --> 01:09:38,108 Uh, why? 1293 01:09:38,142 --> 01:09:40,645 I don't... I just had an intuition that you, 1294 01:09:40,678 --> 01:09:44,982 and your message, and your movie could make a difference. 1295 01:09:45,015 --> 01:09:47,518 So find that back door. I don't know what that back door is. 1296 01:09:47,552 --> 01:09:50,054 That's what I thought I've been doing my whole life. 1297 01:09:50,087 --> 01:09:51,789 I'm not sure. 1298 01:09:51,822 --> 01:09:55,025 I get a lot of beautiful letters. 1299 01:09:55,059 --> 01:09:56,927 I don't know. 1300 01:09:56,961 --> 01:09:59,564 It's easy to be discouraged. 1301 01:09:59,597 --> 01:10:02,667 But I have to think that there's hope... here's hope. 1302 01:10:02,700 --> 01:10:05,736 We'll see, we'll see. 1303 01:10:13,744 --> 01:10:17,114 Then, the news came. 1304 01:10:17,147 --> 01:10:20,885 On December 21st, 2014, 1305 01:10:20,918 --> 01:10:24,589 a federal judge threw out the Obama administration decision 1306 01:10:24,622 --> 01:10:28,459 to remove the grey wolf population in the Great Lakes region 1307 01:10:28,493 --> 01:10:30,628 from the endangered species list. 1308 01:10:30,661 --> 01:10:33,731 A decision that would ban further wolf hunting and trapping 1309 01:10:33,764 --> 01:10:39,770 in the three states, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. 1310 01:10:39,804 --> 01:10:41,939 U.S. district judge, Beryl Howell 1311 01:10:41,972 --> 01:10:45,643 ruled the removal was arbitrary and capricious, 1312 01:10:45,676 --> 01:10:49,580 and violated the federal endangered species act. 1313 01:10:49,614 --> 01:10:51,616 She concludes, 1314 01:10:51,649 --> 01:10:54,652 "at times a court must lean forward from the bench 1315 01:10:54,685 --> 01:10:56,587 "to let an agency know, 1316 01:10:56,621 --> 01:11:01,191 "in no uncertain terms, that enough is enough. 1317 01:11:01,225 --> 01:11:04,495 And this, is one of those times."