Review: American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee

Title: American Wolf
Author: Nate Blakeslee
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Crown
Publish Date: October 17, 2017
Source: Owned

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Before men ruled the earth, there were wolves. Once abundant in North America, these majestic creatures were hunted to near extinction in the lower 48 states by the 1920s. But in recent decades, conservationists have brought wolves back to the Rockies, igniting a battle over the very soul of the West."

My Two Cents:

"American Wolf" is the history of the removal and eventual reintroduction of the wolf from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana. Yellowstone has the remarkable denotation of being one of my favorite places that I have ever been. It is a vast wilderness with acres and acres of untouched land. It has plains and mountains, hot springs and geysers. It is a beautiful place filled with animals. Although Yellowstone is a park, national parks are not cut off from the surrounding land and so those that live and work close to the park must coexist with the park. As this book shows, that can often be a tall order. Almost immediately after the park was given its designation as a national park, those that lived around it began to see the effects both good and bad of this protective status. One effect came from the conservation of wolves. Wolves are an important part of Yellowstone's ecosystem but also present a problem, particularly one having to do with the killing and maiming of livestock on farms outside the park. This book details the different points of view of those that love the wolves and believe they have a place in Yellowstone and those that are utterly frustrated with the park's porous borders that allow wolves to roam their land and harm their livelihoods. The book follows several people in great detail in order to illustrate this great divide. The author does a good job of showing the various sides of the argument. This is a man vs. nature story and a man trying to coexist with nature story. It was fascinating and well-written. I know this issue is one that I will be mulling over for a long time.