BILLINGS — Sunday marked 30 years since the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park.
“There were threats against all the biologists, managers, and wolves … We had armed guards 24 hours a day at all the pens," said Jim Halfpenny, the president of the Naturalist World of Ecological Education. "At the time, the politics involved almost got that class shut down.”
From 1926 to 1995, wolves were considered eradicated from the park after decades of hunting, which contributed to a profound reduction in the biodiversity of the area.
“Once (Europeans) started farming, the relationship with wolves changed very much. Prior to that time, we honored the wolf. We thought of them as our brothers," said Russ Kehler, a professional photographer who has spent months at a time in Yellowstone since the 70s.
Diann Thompson, Halfpenny's wife, who was present during their reintroduction said she has learned about herself and her family from her time with Yellowstone's wolves.
"I appreciate the way they are loyal in their family," said Thompson, who is a mother to two, "Time after time, it comes back to lessons that I can apply to myself.”
In the last five years, approximately 500 miles south of Yellowstone, Colorado has gone through a similar wolf reintroduction program with proposition 114 (statute 33-2-105.8).
“Colorado folks are going through everything we did in the 90s with laws and resentment and roadblocks," said Halfpenny. "I got the last grizzly bear. I documented the last wolverine. I documented the last lynx. They’re gone. Colorado’s no longer wild.”
