As he approached the mortally wounded animal, he witnessed "the fierce green fire dying in her eyes," an experience that changed him forever.
Henceforward Leopold began to think like a mountain. He began to conceive of wildlife management from a perspective of greater respect for ecological processes and of restraint in the urge to manipulate and control nature.
From this perspective the deer and the wolf are inseparable complementary parts of a larger whole, which is in turn part of a still larger whole: the biotic community, the dance of life.
In time, Leopold formulated what he called the "land ethic." He hypothesized that the next step in the evolution of ethics is its expansion to include "soils, waters, plants and animals" collectively referred to as "the land."
The basic tenet of the land ethic is "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."
How far Americans have come in realizing the land ethic is illustrated by the continuing war on wolves in the American West.
Granted, wolves are predators - that is how they live. But the power, beauty and grace of the deer, elk and moose are the product of an evolutionary dance between wolves and their prey. The arrangement may seem diabolical - something to fear and hate. But in reality it is the flower of life - something we should embrace!
The successful reintroduction of wolves to the northern Rockies over a decade ago amply demonstrates the ecological value of wolves. Contrary to the naive mythology portraying wolves as nothing but murderous thieves that wreak devastation on vulnerable prey, wolves restore and preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community.
The good of the whole is served; the flower blooms. And it is right.
This truth is on dramatic display in Yellowstone National Park, where, due to the scattering effect that wolves have on elk, willow and aspen are beginning to return. Consequently, beaver colonies, long absent, are once again found, their ponds supporting vegetation that is home to a variety of birds, amphibians, mammals and insects.
The ponds meter stream flow throughout the year, providing flood control. Streams run colder with more overhanging vegetation - good for native trout. As well, carrion left by wolves feeds hungry grizzlies, bald eagles, ravens, coyotes, foxes and a host of other species. It all adds up to greater integrity, stability and beauty in the biotic community.
We should allow wolves to reoccupy and heal as much of their historic range as they can, not arbitrarily restrict them to "island" habitats like museum specimens. Our goal should not only be to preserve the species, but to allow wolves to occupy their rightful role as a potent and efficient ecological force that even the most intelligent human management cannot replicate.
For this reason, the recent delisting of wolves in the northern Rockies was misguided.
As for wolf "management," the words of the ancient sage of Taoism offer a fitting general prescription, if not an absolute rule: "Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail." - Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Book One, 3: 10.
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* KIRK ROBINSON is executive director of the Western Wildlife Conservancy. He was assisted in writing this op-ed by Dick Carter, coordinator of the High Uintas Preservation Council, and Allison Jones, conservation biologist for the Wild Utah Project.
