I was sad to learn of his passing. Jim gave so much of his time and energy to Gray Wolves, and I thank him for that. Whenever asked, he was happy to contribute his work and voice. He donated one of his photographs to the winner of a photography contest we worked on to stop the killing contests. He made such a difference in keeping wolves listed here in Wisconsin. Jim was a soft-spoken and caring individual. My condolences go out to his family.

I met Jim at the Minnesota Premiere of dear friend Julia Huffman’s film, Medicine of the Wolf, seen here with myself, my granddaughter Caitlin Boda, and Jim Brandenburg.

Jim was a soft-spoken and caring person, and our passion for wolves was a common link between us. He and I had known individual wolves, Jim through his photography and mine through monitoring them. We shared with each other how devastating the Wisconsin wolf hunts were to us. He shared with me how devastating it was to learn that a favorite wolf he had photographed was shot and killed in the wolf hunts. I shared with him my own devastation about the wolf pack I had monitored for years, which was being subjected to the use of dogs to hunt them down. Jim and I were both advocates against using dogs to hunt wolves in Wisconsin. We were both active in stopping the hunting of gray wolves in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Jim gave of his time in making the Movie “Medicine of the Wolf’ directed and produced by Julia Hoffman.

In this beautiful and important documentary, filmmaker Julia Huffman travels to Minnesota and into wolf country to pursue the deep intrinsic value of perhaps the most unjustly maligned animal on the face of the planet. Medicine of the Wolf centers on the remarkable, world-renowned environmentalist and National Geographic photographer Jim Brandenburg, who has photographed, studied, and been on the ground with wolves for 45 years—longer than anyone in history. As our guide, Brandenburg enables us to see the world of the wolf as we have never seen it before. The film also has a crucial message for us: The gray wolf must be preserved on the endangered species list.
You can purchase the film on Amazon

Brandenburg had a long career as a National Geographic Photographer and was rewarded with the National Geographic Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

A short bio Brandenburg began his career as a natural history photographer and filmmaker while in college, later working in journalism and freelancing for the National Geographic for whom he became a contract photographer in 1978. He has since worked on numerous assignments for National Geographic and has been represented extensively in magazine, book, and television projects, as well as for Life, Audubon, Smithsonian, Natural History, World, Geo, and BBC Wildlife, traveling worldwide from the high Arctic to Africa and Asia over the years. In addition, he was commissioned in 1981 by the U.S. Postal Service to design a set of wildlife stamps, which were released that year and included in the Graphic Design in America exhibition,n which toured the United States and England in 1990.

One of the highlights of Brandenburg’s career occurred in 1988 when he “discovered” and filmed for posterity a pack of wild Arctic wolves on Ellesmere Island in the high Arctic. It is believed that this was probably the last pack not ingrained with fear of proximity to man. Brandenburg’s extensive work photographing wolves has been vital in focusing attention on the animal’s status, and he was instrumental in reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone Park.

The photographer’s credits are impressive. He was named Magazine Photographer of the Year twice by the National Press Photographers Association and the Kodak Wildlife Photographer of the Year by the Natural History Museum-London and BBC Wildlife. One of only five Americans, he received the World Achievement Award from the United Nations Environmental Program in 1991 in recognition of his using nature photography to enhance public awareness of the earth’s fragile environment.

Actively publishing for several years, Brandenburg released “White Wolf – Living with an Arctic Legend” in 1988, “Minnesota – Images of Home” in 1990, “Brother Wolf – A Forgotten Promise” in 1993, and two children’s books, “To the Top of the World” in 1993 and “Sand and Fog” in 1994.

Brandenburg served on the board of directors for Defenders of Wildlife Foundation, oncerts for the Environment and Wolf Ridge Learning Center, as well as donating time and energies to other environmental organizations.

Brandenburg Gallery