By Barbara Kessler

The story of the Rocky Mountain gray wolves is an inspiring fairy tale, in reverse, that showcases nature’s ability to sustain its own given a little time, the right habitat and a helping hand from conservation groups.

The tale begins like this. Once there was a wild and foreboding territory called the American West. The land stretched far and the big bad (some would say awesome and beautiful) wolves were plentiful, numbering in the tens of thousands. But the pioneering spirit was turning the wild landscape into ranches and towns, railroads and highways. The buffalo and the elk were in retreat. And then, it was the wolves’ turn. Deprived of their natural prey, they turned to sheep and cattle and confronted a fierce foe, an enemy with guns.

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