The Hunt (A Novel)

Name:
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

10.31.2004

A Prologue...of sorts

A teaser (originally brought to you by the Associated Press, re-edited for my purposes). Assuming I can negotiate with the AP (yes, this is an actual report), this will be the opening to my novel.

July 17, 2004
Gov't Seeks End to Gray Wolf Protection

By STEVE KARNOWSKI, Associated Press Writer

FOREST LAKE, Minn. - Declaring it's time to celebrate the dramatic comeback of the gray wolf, Interior Secretary Gale Norton said Friday the predator should be removed from federal protection from Maine to the Dakotas.

"The recovery of wolf populations in the Rockies and the Great Lakes area has been one of the most notable success stories of the Endangered Species Act," Norton said at the Wildlife Science Center

The gray wolf has bounced back from the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states over the past 30 years under federal protection. Their numbers have grown from as few as 350, all in northeastern Minnesota, to almost 4,000 spread across several states.

The National Wildlife Federation criticized the plan as shortsighted because it means the federal government won't be involved in any efforts to reintroduce the wolf in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York, which the group says have suitable habitat. Norton said any reintroduction there would be up to the states themselves.

As the ceremony drew to a close, one wolf started to howl, joined soon by others across the center. They were loud enough to drown out Walter Medwid, executive director of the International Wolf Center.

"Wolves have survived in spite of centuries of relentless persecution by humans," Medwid said. "But unlike the bald eagle or the peregrine falcon, the wolf, being the wolf, will continue to challenge our commitment in keeping it a part of America's landscape.”
[Cue Ominous Music…]

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