Public Service Announcement: Event: Restoring Wolves to Southern Utah
“Restoring Wolves to Southern Utah” is the topic for a presentation on Tuesday, November 10, at 6:30pm at the Moab Public Library. Wolf advocates Bob Brister and Roxane George will speak on Mexican gray wolf restoration and show the documentary Lords of Nature on the role of wolves and cougars as keystone species keeping nature in balance.
Brister notes, “U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists have identified southern Utah and the Grand Canyon watershed as one of three core population areas required for the long-term survival of the Mexican gray wolf subspecies. My intention is to bring together a group of wolf fans in Moab who will educate and advocate for the recovery of Mexican wolves in their native southern Utah.”
Brister is a long-time wolf advocate who lives in Salt Lake City. “I’ve been fascinated by wolves for many years. Wolves are important. They help keep nature in balance and are beautiful and magnificent. Why should we have to go to Yellowstone to see wolves when wolves are native to Utah? We have plenty of room and need for them in our national forests and parks. When wolves are reestablished in Utah, I want to make sure they are protected.”
Roxane George, coordinator for Lobos of the Southwest, notes that any controversy involving wolves is more a reflection of human society’s issues and is less about wolves. “Wolves are just wolves — animals that live in balance with the rest of nature when they are allowed to. It is people who are guilty of mythologizing, scapegoating, demagoguery, fear mongering, playing politics, and falling prey to greed, resentment, entitlement, and ignorance of wolf biology. Moab-based wolf advocates can counter those negative forces at a local level with community-based and community-led education and advocacy.”
Wolves are native to Utah but were killed off by the 1930s. A majority of Utahns believe there is a place for wolves in Utah, according to polling data referenced in the State of Utah’s Wolf Management Plan.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Bob Brister, volunteer wolf advocate for Lobos of the Southwest, at (801) 363-0898 or bbrister@q.com.
