The nonprofit Wolf Education and Research Center, in
Ketchum, Idaho, has begun a new program encouraging people to
contribute directly to the annual costs of returning wolves to
Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho. It supports logistical
expenses, estimated at over $500,000, which include radio collars
and tracking equipment as well as field operations. The center,
whose 70,000 members make it the largest wolf-advocacy group in the
world, plans to raise money through special projects such as its
Friends of the Wolf cookbook, which contains recipes from
celebrities such as Clint Eastwood and Dolly Parton. David
Langhorst, director of the project, says the fund tries to make the
connection “between the average citizen and the wolf biologist
working in the field.” Another program begun by the center involves
children in 10 local schools, who are tracking the movements of
some of the radio-collared wolves released in the West. The
students from each school will share their findings with 10 other
schools, including some in other countries. The center also plans
to open a public facility on Nez Perce tribal land during the
summer of 1995, which will include a captive wolf pack in a 20-acre
enclosed setting. The center’s advisory board includes Ed Bangs,
coordinator of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s wolf operation,
and wolf researcher David Mech. For more information, contact the
Wolf Education and Research Center at Box 3832, Ketchum, ID 83340
(208/726-2860).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Want to sponsor a wolf?.
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