Howl: An Open Letter to the Minister Responsible for Proposed Wolf Killing Program

 Killing Wolves in BC

 by Susanne Hare Lawson

Hello, I spoke with several people in your departments today to say NO to the proposed wolf kill for B.C.  My reasons are as follows:

1.  Wolves are an indicator species and pathfinders.  They have been so for eons, before non-indigenous people came to North America.  Here in Clayoquot Sound, the chieftanships are based on the number of wolves in a certain chiefs territory.  The  more wolves in that person's territory, the more powerful the chief.  The chief's family is directly connected to the wolf packs, if anything happens to the packs, the chief's family is in jeopardy.  It is totally taboo to kill a wolf here and the initiation ceremonies for young men are based on the wolf ceremonies where the warriors clad as wolves take the young men out and teach them.  Funerals are also hosted by the "wolves"...chief's attendants dressed in grey on all fours, these "wolves" escort the deceased chief to the burial grounds, no one else goes with them.  If a territory is rich and abundant, there will be an abundance of wolves and the chiefs still take care to feed the wolves in their territories, bringing dead whales or sea lions ashore to nuture the packs in their territory. 

2.  The wolves and most of the natural world do not destroy wantonly for that would be their own demise.  Unlike humans, wolves and other wildlife take care of their prey, ensuring that they aren't reduced to extinction.  It seems to be only humans who have this capability and because humans think like this, they assume other wildlife do the same when actually the contrary is true.  Wildlife are the best conservationists if given a chance to demonstrate this.  A study done on wolves in the Great Lakes over 25 years demonstrated this fact.

3.  The most desperate people we have met in our lives were people who had either killed wolves or logged old ancient giant forests or were "fracking" or other desecrations to the natural world.  The energy of these people's actions comes full circle and they become extremely lost.  I do not know how to explain this but this is how it seems to work.  What goes around, comes around and those involved in making decisions to destroy these beings are not exempt. 

4. We have walked with wolves and spent time with them in the natural world here in Clayoquot Sound and on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  Our experiences have been extraordinary, sitting with them, walking beaches with them, howling with them, seeing them in their natural world and with their young...they are extremely like the families we are involved with ourselves.  We have spent several years working with people doing books on the wolves of the Pacific Northwest as well as taking out film crews doing series for Animal Planet and National Geographic.  These people come to B.C. because this experience of the natural world and wildlife is being exterminated and hindered by human population and encroachment the world over.  The experiences we all had together, these writers, film crews and wolves, were something to remember forever, and the amazing thing about these experiences is that these people are sharing them with the rest of the world, something so rare and extraordinary.  The last wolf of Ireland was killed in 1765. 

5.  The United Nations and International bankers and financiers have called for an end to deforestation to avoid apocalypse...a story which ran last week internationally, urging governments and decision makers to prevent any further climate collapse as it is not only destroying the natural life-carrying capabilities but hurting the economic status of the planet as well.  Wolf habitat is increasingly being destroyed and along with it goes the habitat of many other species who are all interconnected.  As humans rush headlong into "manipulating" and "managing" wildlife species while ignoring the threat that loss of habitat, deforestation and natural food sources poses, they are doing us all an injustice. Stop the deforestation of natural wolf habitat, set what is left aside to ensure that what wildlife needs for the future isn't destroyed in human's destruction of resources for the present.

6.  We need to turn this present path around and as wolves show themselves more, they are showing us a better way, give them a chance to do this, for this may be the only path left for our future to be secure.  Stop the killing and destruction of wilderness. 

Susanne Hare Lawson, Tofino, B.C.