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In just 10 years since reintroduction, wolf populations have boomed, and their range has expanded dramatically. Today, an estimated 850 wolves inhabit Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, far exceeding biologists’ original expectations.

Next Monday will mark precisely 10 years since wolves re-appeared in Yellowstone National Park, from where they had been absent since the 1920s. The re-introduction program was a smashing success, far exceeding even optimistic predictions. On March 21, 1995, federal biologists finally opened the acclimation pens holding 14 gray wolves, sometimes called timber wolves, brought from Alberta. Earlier that year an additional 14 wolves had been set free in central...

There’s a great article on wolves in today’s Seattle Times. The article describes the ecological changes in Yellowstone National Park that an Oregon State University researcher, Bill Ripple, has been documenting. Ripple’s findings show that wolves have a, uh, ripple effect on their native ecosystems. Plants flourish, as do red foxes, beavers, and songbirds. Coyotes and elk fare less well.  There are a couple of lessons we can draw. First,...

As Americans are maintaining physical distance from each other to protect themselves and slow the spread of coronavirus, some states are better prepared than others to continue holding safe, fair elections. States’ preparation for and response to the global pandemic could have major consequences for voters’ ability to participate in their democracy, both in primary elections this spring and for the presidential election this fall. We are tracking states’ preparedness....

As I wrote about a few weeks ago, corporations have a long and storied history of “crying wolf” when people try to protect themselves from industrial pollution or safety hazards. Business interests also have a history of paying consultants to produce studies that “prove” the wolf is really there. For example, in 2017, Oregon Business & Industries (OBI) paid consultants to run a few models to conclude that climate action...

Aven This week, I found this story about a community successfully living without fossil fuels to be both heartening and inspiring, especially as my own family embarks on the process of acquiring our own little plot to try our hand at urban homesteading. Also inspiring but less heartening is this story about the large carnivore researcher at WSU who has been silenced and punished by school administrators and state lawmakers...

Alan Dave Roberts’ long article about the rise of what he calls “tribal epistemology” is my lead pick for what you should read. In tribal epistemology, Information is evaluated based not on conformity to common standards of evidence or correspondence to a common understanding of the world, but on whether it supports the tribe’s values and goals and is vouchsafed by tribal leaders. “Good for our side” and “true” begin...

Kristin Lessig raised $1 million and is running as a referendum presidential candidate to Fix Democracy First. His “Citizen Equality Act” mirrors Sightline’s democracy work! It aims to embody the idea that, in a democracy, every citizen is equal, using a three-pronged strategy: (1) every citizen has equal freedom to vote, (2) every citizen should get equal representation in Congress, achieved through multi-member districts and ranked choice voting (sound familiar?),...

Jennifer I’ve had a hard time keeping it together while I’ve read the Seattle Times coverage of the Oso mudslide this week, mostly because of the horrific human toll but also because its reporters have covered the story so well from end to end. They’ve conveyed the mindblowing scale of the disaster with narratives, graphics, and coverage of the epic and heartbreaking search for survivors. But the staff has set itself apart by ferreting out the...

Eric Ezra Klein’s 13 reasons why Washington is failing is one of the rare examples of the genre that’s actually worth reading, in part because he makes some non-obvious points sharply. In a related development, psychiatrists are growing concerned about one segment of the American public. Alan I spent last weekend in a blind in Central Washington looking for wolves. A new pack has moved into the Teanaway River Valley, but the...