Wolf Haven International Zooms to Beloit

I’m super excited for this weekend! Welty is partnering with Wolf Haven International, located in Tenino, WA, to bring the documentary film The Trouble with Wolves to the Stateline Area. 

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Video available via link January 19 – 23 

Q&A January 23rd 6:00 pm. to 8:00 pm. CST

The Trouble with Wolves is a documentary film by Collin Monda, an award-winning director and filmmaker. The documentary explores multiple perspectives concerning wolves and how wolves impact the region in which they live. The Trouble with Wolves focuses on areas surrounding Yellowstone National Park. The issues explored have relevant lessons for Wisconsin.

Join us for a virtual viewing of “The Trouble with Wolves,” hosted by Wolf Haven, Int.

Wolves capture the imagination and are emblematic of what it means to be wild…

Welty’s collaboration with Wolf Haven International came about through a virtual field trip request for SDB 3rd grade dual language immersion classes, who were studying Los Lobos in October 2020. In 2019, volunteers and I delivered a Timberwolf program in-person with hands-on activities that included tracking by scent and by sight, feeling winter and spring coats of wolf and coyote pelts, and play-hunting deer to see how wolves impact deer populations. 

I wanted the 2020 distance experience to be just as much fun. I started by reaching out to wolf organizations in Wisconsin, but I needed to cast a wider net to find a group that had the ability to share footage of their wolves. Wolf Haven International was one of two wolf organizations to provide footage. The other one was the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center.

… but there are other concerns that are worth exploring.

During our conversations, Wolf Haven International asked if Welty would like to host a showing of a documentary with a Q&A with their staff afterwards. Then the announcement came from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources that wolves were being delisted as a protected species and the hunting season would start November 6, 2021. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will delist gray wolves from the federal list of endangered species on Jan. 4, 2021, returning management authority to the lower 48 states and tribes. Under Wisconsin law, when the wolf is delisted, the state’s annual hunting and trapping seasons shall resume. The official wolf season will begin Nov. 6, 2021. – WDNR, 12/4/20, Facebook

Now seems like a good time to explore the issues surrounding wolves. Wolves capture the imagination and are emblematic of what it means to be wild, but there are other concerns that are worth exploring. The documentary does a good job at balancing the issues. 

There is still time to register for this week’s event…join us if you have time!

Aaron Wilson
Program Director, WEC
info@weltycenter.org
608-361-1377