Wolves Are Back. Humans Are Howling.

So here we are. We understand that wolves are a cure for what ails us, and yet we're getting ready to start slaughtering them all over again. The only thing that can prevent this is an aroused public, which has yet to show any signs of materializing.

This brings us back to Alaska, where recent history is instructive. In 1991, the governor announced plans to start killing wolves as a way to provide more moose for hunters. It wasn't long before the threat of a nationwide tourism boycott compelled him to beat a hasty retreat. But when the Alaska Department of Fish and Game went ahead with an even more ambitious eradication program four years ago, popular outrage was conspicuous only by its absence. Since then, nearly 750 wolves have been gunned down. If a bill now before the state legislature removing the few remaining restrictions on wolf-control passes, which seems likely, the carnage is certain to get even worse.

Yesterday the wolf was the poster boy of the American conservation movement. Today the only poster it's on says, "Wanted: Dead." It's a sad comedown for what had been a stirring comeback.

doherty@mhtc.net

Jim Doherty is a former editor whose articles and nature essays have appeared in Audubon, Sports Illustrated and the New York Times.