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Since then I have spent the last 40 years studying the real wolf: the gray wolf (Canis lupus). Although inhabiting nearby Quebec and Ontario, the gray wolf still has not made its way back to the Adirondacks as it has to Wisconsin, Michigan, and Montana. Those three states had the critical advantages of a nearby reservoir population of wolves and wilderness corridors through which dispersers from the reservoirs could immigrate.

The Adirondacks, on the other hand, are geographically more similar to the greater Yellowstone area in that they are separated from any wolf reservoir by long distances and intensively human-developed areas aversive to wolves from the reservoir populations. If wolves are to return to the Adirondacks, they almost certainly will have to be reintroduced, as they were to Yellowstone National Park.

Wolf reintroduction, as distinct from natural recovery, is an especially contentious issue, for it entails dramatic, deliberate action that must be open to public scrutiny, thorough discussion and review, and highly polarized debate. This is as it should be because once a wolf population is reintroduced to an area, it must be managed forever. There is no turning back. The wolf was once eradicated not just from the Adirondacks but from almost all of the 48 contiguous states. That feat was accomplished by a primarily pioneering society that applied itself endlessly to the task, armed with poison. We can never return to those days, so once the wolf is reintroduced successfully, it will almost certainly be here to stay.

Mech, L. David.  2000.  Wolf restoration to the Adirondacks: the advantages 
     and disadvantages of public participation in the decision.  In V. A. 
     Sharpe, B. Norton, S. Donnelley (eds.).  Wolves and human communities: 
     biology, politics, and ethics.  Island Press, Washington, D.C.

This resource should be cited as:

Mech, L. David.  2000.  Wolf restoration to the Adirondacks: the advantages 
     and disadvantages of public participation in the decision.  In V. A. 
     Sharpe, B. Norton, S. Donnelley (eds.).  Wolves and human communities: 
     biology, politics, and ethics.  Island Press, Washington, D.C.
     Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online.  
     http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/mammals/wolfrest/index.htm  
     (Version 20AUG2001).

Table of Contents

• The Wolf as an Endangered Species
• Wolf Subspecies
• The Eastern Timber Wolf
• Advantages of Public Participation in Decision Making
• Disadvantages of Public Participation in Decision Making
• Restoring the Wolf to the Adirondacks
• The Need for Wolf Control
• References