Wolves [1] have always had a strange hold on the American psyche, and discussions now underway around the West as to how to manage the canines show that little has changed. Before wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park ten years ago and began to thrive under their new status as symbols of nature’s triumph even in the face of development and sprawl, they were loathed and feared by generations of American pilgrims and pioneers.

An excellent – if somewhat depressing – book about wolves came out last year: Vicious by Jon T. Coleman [2]. It chronicled the incredible hatred displayed toward wolves, and the strong mythology that built up around them as creatures representing all that was terrifying and uncontrollable about nature and wilderness.

All of which seemed to be far behind us over the past decade, as wolves – aided by the Endangered Species Act – moved back into some Western landscapes, and thrived. Now states in the Rocky Mountains are trying to come up with their own wolf management plans that will come into force when the animals are removed from the endangered list. Many of these proposed plans show how little we’ve moved on from that deeply ingrained hatred of wolves. Even as people around the country celebrate the wolf as a potent symbol of renewal and pride, wolf management plans seem obsessed with trying to determine exactly how many wolves it’s okay to kill. Idaho’s plan [3], for instance, proposes killing 75 percent of the state’s wolves – which seems like exactly the type of thinking that got the wolves on the endangered list to begin with.

Idahoans debated the plan last week. States must develop and pass management plans for wolves within their boundaries, in preparation for federal de-listing of the species.

Photo credit: National Wildlife Federation [4]