Letter to Secretary Sally Jewell to Protest the Delisting of Wolves

To protest UFW's plan to delist all wolves, please print, sign your name and send this letter, or write your own. Thank you for all you do. 

Secretary Sally Jewell

Department of Interior

1849 C Street NW

Washington, DC 20240

CC: Dan Ashe, Director

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

1849 C Street NW

Washington, DC 20240

Dear Secretary Jewell,

The extirpation of wolves and large carnivores from large portions of the landscape is a global phenomenon with broad ecological consequences.  There is a growing body of scientific literature demonstrating that keystone predators play critical roles in maintaining a diversity of other wildlife species and as such the composition and function of ecosystems. Research in Yellowstone National Park, for example, found that reintroduction of wolves caused changes in elk numbers and behavior which then facilitated recovery of streamside vegetation, benefitting beavers, fish and songbirds. In this and other ways, wolves shape North American landscapes.

Since the fate of the Gray Wolf has been turned over to the states in the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Rockies, hunters and trappers have been driven by a ruthless zeal for a new game animal, and have been no less than brutally cruel. Wolves have been tortured in leg hold traps and strangled to death. Even dogs have been released to kill wolves caught in these traps. There are hunters’ reports of imparting “belly shots” so the wolves would suffer more in their final hours of life. There are hunters who brag about their “Shoot, Shovel and Shut-Up” poaching techniques for hiding many illegal kills. This is far from any concept of Wildlife Management. Since the states took over wolf management in the NW, virtually all of the collared wolves in Yellowstone have been killed. Many have been lured out of the sanctity of the park with recordings of pups in distress and the scent of bait, only to walk into a bone-crushing trap or find themselves in the cross hairs of a gun. These states have abused their stewardship of the Gray Wolf, evidenced every day in their photos and posts on public forums.

Little Red Riding Hood is fable, not fact. However, wolves, more than any other North American predator, have been the subjects of extreme prejudice and persecution, which mandates even more protection for them from the federal government, not a complete abdication of the successful Endangered Species Act by the president of the United States and his federal agencies.

The Gray Wolf has barely begun to recover or is absent from significant portions of its former range where substantial suitable habitat remains. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s draft rule fails to consider science identifying extensive suitable habitat in the Pacific Northwest, California, the southern Rocky Mountains and the Northeast. It also fails to consider the importance of these areas to the long-term survival and recovery of wolves, or the importance of wolves to the ecosystems of these regions.

Given the importance of wolves and the fact that they have only just begun to recover in some regions and not at all in others, I strongly urge you to reconsider the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to remove protections across most of the United States.

Sincerely,

How We Survived the Powerhouse Fire Part I

How We Survived the Powerhouse Fire
Part I

On Thursday afternoon, May 30^th while watering our trees here at Freedom, I got a call from our dear friend Brice Bolander who saw smoke in our area from his location down in Antelope Valley. I told him we must be clear of it as I saw nothing but clear skies all around. Within about a half an hour, I saw a big smoke funnel appear on the other side of the mountain on the Southeast side behind us. Of course I checked out the news and they were calling it the Powerhouse Fire already, but the LA County Fire Department seemed to have it contained.

10:30 Saturday Morning June 1st

Friday morning, with no smoke in sight, Paul headed down the mountain to work with Tree King and I set myself to do my chores. Around 10:30 AM a huge cloud of black and red smoke was billowing directly south of us. I searched for any information about the location of the fire and found out the US Forestry Service had taken over and the fire was only 15% contained, heading Northwest, away from us. I called Paul, who headed home immediately.  

We got a call from Dan Running Bear, our wolf sitter, who let us know that another  friend of Shadowland, Bobby Torres who happens to be with the Reserves and is familiar with fighting fires, was driving up from Chilao to be with us in case the fire comes close.  He arrived along with our new good friends, Carol and Chelsea Riggins who has a holding area for the wolves in case we had to evacuate. They came up from Santa Clarita to help us if necessary. Glued to the US Forestry website we thought we were tracking the fire’s progress accurately.

Randall, Paul and Bobby

Finished Project

We recently were fortunate enough to get a hold of a Lakota Tipi (lodge), and we had already scheduled our Tipi master, Randall Hogue to come help us install it. 
We woke up to a relatively clear sky. 

Randall arrived about 10:30 AM with no problems and with all good thoughts and with “only the best outcome” our intention, we proceeded to erect the Tipi. 

Slowly, but surely, the sky started to fill with smoke over the Southwest portion of the mountain behind us. The sky in the west started turning bright orange, but still looked as though it would burn west and pass us by. There was very little updated information about where the fire was so we could track it.

Around 11:30 AM, we saw our neighbors, Nick Stone and Bob McKinley drive by apparently evacuating their horses. I got a call from our neighbors, Teresa and Jay Jackson whose son Eddie helps me often with the wolves and our events. They live on top of the hill just south of the lake.  They told us that they were starting evacuation of residents in Lake Hughes. We still could not get updated info on the progression of the fire from the web and the news. We felt we should make the trucks ready for evacuation, even though we were still hopeful the fire was going to pass by us. 

Then around 6PM, I watched the Channel 7 news for a live report, directly from Lake Hughes saying the fire was spreading, but at this time no structures are in danger. Great news! I started the process of feeding all of us when Bobby said that there were flames coming over the mountain heading our way. I called my spiritual center first thing to put out a prayer request. Then Bobby and I went outside and he said, “They’re gone and they’re not coming back.” He was referring to the planes and helicopters that had been fighting the fires all day long. The US Forestry doesn’t fly at night apparently. The Fire Dept. does on a limited basis, but we found out later that they were not authorized to help. 
 

As I frantically got the wolves loaded in the truck, I couldn’t help thinking that they spent the entire day on the forest and now that people’s homes and property are in danger, they are going home! Paul had called Brice and Heather Bolander who drove up from Leona Valley straight into and evacuation area to help. Heather was going to evacuate the animals with me and Brice hopped on the tractor and started to create a barrier on the perimeter of the property while Paul wet down the roofs and walls of the houses. 

"Don't Look at the Fire!"

Paul was insisting he would stay and keep Freedom from burning, and I realized that my panic was about leaving him and not that I was worried about me and the wolves. I was finally able to articulate my feelings to him as he was literally holding my shoulders in place. He said, “Don’t look at the fire; look at the flag! See where the wind is blowing. It’s changing. Watch, it’s going to burn around us.” I saw the flag with a strong wind blowing due east as the fire was headed north down the mountain towards us. A sudden calm came over me and I said, “Well, you are powerful!”
 

Just as Heather and I were about to head out, Paul got a call from the LA County Fire Dept and that they were going to use Freedom as a staging area so don’t go anywhere even though there was a mandatory evacuation order in place at this time. So we did not go either. The wolves were safe in the trucks with the engines running and the air conditioners on.  As long as they had eyes on us, they were calm. Our neighbor’s, Bob and Claire McKinley called to tell us that they had their animals loaded and were headed to some friends in Frazier Park. They have a log house that sits up against the mountain just west of us and looked as though it would blow away from them too. So we said, “Come here first”. They showed up with their 4 dogs, 2 cats, 3 goats and 4 chickens on their trailer and in their car. 

Coming Down the Mountain

Power and cell service went out around 8 PM. With the darkness, we witnessed the mountain behind us burn with a rage! We heard our neighbor’s propane tanks explode as the fire moved sideways to the east and engulfed his pine trees. 

The whole place looked like a bon fire x 100 as the LA County Fire Fighters were hard at work trying to save his house. Just the Saturday before, Paul and his Tree King crew had landscaped his property for his daughter’s upcoming wedding. 

The Wind Shifts

The hill behind the lake was lit up with a wall of fire. Even the Fire Dept. figured nothing could survive it; the Jackson's house was surely gone. It moved within minutes around to the northeast jumping Pine Canyon Rd. and headed up to the Oaks Christian Camp who’s owners, Christine and Dan Smith had also come down to Freedom to stay safe; a perfect view to bear witness to the fire moving toward their home and facility.

View From Leona Valley

Another neighbor drove up and asked if he could park his car here. He couldn’t take it with him. Carol and Patrick arrived from the west to help with the animals and to help protect our house. They literally drove to the fire to help us out. 

Our beloved Vet, Dr. Dave Gantenbien called to see if we needed any tranquilizers for the wolves when he lives in Leona Valley and would have had to drive through the fire that was headed his way in order to get here. I told him to stay home. He has animals too. The wolves were still surprisingly calm.

View of Elizabeth Lake

By midnight, it looked as though the worst was over. We put the animals back in the house to their great relief.  Brice and Heather headed home and sent this photo of the fire that was on both sides of the road near Lake Elizabeth. Not sure why they went the short way home, just grateful they made it home without incident. 

Carol and Patrick asked if there was anyone they could call for us. We asked him to call Paul’s mother to let her know we are okay, but unreachable, and to see if his brother, George had a generator he could send up for us. They said they had one we could borrow and they would bring up a couple on Sunday for the main house and the pump for the well.

Bobby would not come to nap or sleep so he could watch for anything the Fire Dept might need. 

We helped the McKinley’s unload the goats in one of our enclosures and also refused to leave them to come inside and sleep. The baby goats were crying and that sound is heartbreaking and unbearable for humans, but irresistible if you are a wolf named Takoda. He howled at them until I finally lassoed him around 3:30 AM and brought him inside with us which really bummed him out.

Part II Coming Soon...