JOURNALING: “Few animals evoke the wild like wolves. Majestic, intelligent and highly social, they’re crucial in driving evolution and balancing ecosystems. Some two million wolves once roamed freely throughout North America. But federal extermination programs slashed their numbers to the breaking point.”  Despite gains made after the gray wolf was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1973, their future remains uncertain. On Oct. 29, 2020, the Trump administration finalized a rule removing Endangered Species Act protections for all gray wolves in the lower-48 states except for a small population of Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made its decision despite the fact that wolves are still functionally extinct in the vast majority of their former range across the continental U.S.


CREDITS: TOP PHOTO – by me; BOTTOM PHOTO – by Kvaale at Morguefile; JOURNALING QUOTE  - from Center for Biological Diversity; KITS – “Creekside” and “Season of Magic”; Lynn Grieveson; “Sunny Side Up”, Kristin Aagard; FONTS – Scriptina, Complete in Him