It was 1978, and gray wolves had been extinct in Wisconsin for twenty
years. Still, there were rumors from the state's northwestern counties
that they had returned. Dick Thiel, then a college student with a
passion for wolves, was determined to find out. Keepers of the Wolves
is his engrossing account of tracking and protecting the recovery of
wolves in Wisconsin. Thiel conveys the wonder, frustrations, humor, and
everyday hard work of field biologists, including the political and
public relations pitfalls they regularly face.
This new edition brings Thiel's story into the twenty-first century,
recounting his work monitoring wolves as they spread to central
Wisconsin, conflicts of wolves with landowners and recreationalists,
changes in state and federal policies, the establishment of a state
wolf-hunting season in 2012, and Thiel's forecast for the future of
wolves in Wisconsin.