Wildlife are sentient beings, living out their lives in the last of Wisconsin’s wilderness areas.

We must give them the room to do this. We humans take for granted these wilderness areas as ours to recreate in. We run our recreational vehicles through these areas playing, hunting, and hiking, but do we recognize that these areas are homes for other sentient beings? All of the planet is now under threat due to climate change. We humans need to understand how we impact these last wild areas and come together to share these areas, respecting wild sentient beings and thier homes.

Recognizing wild sentient beings…

At dusk, she ran across the road in front of my car and stopped in the ditch, looking straight at me. I remember thinking to myself, “Is this a collie?” Because of all the light collared fur, she looked like a collie. I did not know at that time that young wolves’ fur is light in color. I soon realized I had a genuine wild wolf looking me straight in the eyes. Beautiful with amber-green eyes, accentuated by white fur around them, they were making contact with me. Then she turned towards the densely covered forest, and as quickly as she appeared, she was gone from my sight. It happened so fast, I barely had time to think about what was before me. It was summertime, and I was exploring my wolf tracking block for the first time. That was in the year 2000. I found out from the head wolf biologist that there was a new Alpha female in the pack, and it seems she introduced herself to me that summer.

I called her White Eyes due to the white fur surrounding those beautiful amber-green eyes. I spent nine years learning about her movements and family. She had a mate. He was a black wolf. I talked with a couple that hunted in the area. They told me that one time while coming down from thier tree stand they happened to meet him. As they stepped down to the ground, he was to the left of them. Both were startled by each other’s presence, and soon he ran off into the distance. The couple recalled to me that they never felt afraid of the Wolf family.

The following YouTube video is my story about that experience with White Eyes.

In my time spent helping to monitor them, I learned that they do not want anything to do with us humans. They avoided any contact with me. All I ever saw were the signs they left behind.

I believe that they deserve to be left alone in the wild to live their lives as they have done for centuries. I believe, just as Dr. Jane Goodall does, that wild wolves are sentient beings.

Goodall believes that animals are not mere commodities or “things,” but individuals with unique personalities.

In my time here, I’ve lived with many companion animals who feel emotions just like we do. They are not a possession of mine. They are beings living side by side with me. They deserve to be treated with respect. I believe this of wild wolves in Wisconsin as well.

They are not our wolves. They are sentient beings, living out their lives in the last of Wisconsin’s wilderness areas. We must give them the room to do this. We humans take for granted these wilderness areas as ours to recreate in. We run our recreational vehicles through these areas playing, hunting, and hiking, but do we recognize that these areas are homes for other sentient beings?

We have made these wilderness areas ours without the slightest thought that we are causing harm. We have changed the natural history of these areas by our need to recreate in them.

We view these areas as a commodity. We take from these wilderness areas to meet our needs. But these areas are homes to our fellow sentient beings. Extractive industries such as lumbering, real estate, oil & gas, farming & ranching, and hunting & trapping are all taking from these last remaining wilderness areas in Wisconsin. I will emphasize the term, last remaining wilderness areas.

Because these areas are all we have left, and climate change is a major factor in the health of these areas. Because we humans need to understand how we impact these last wild areas and come together to share these areas, respecting wild sentient beings’ homes.

Native peoples in Wisconsin have long respected and lived side by side with wild wolves. The Ojibwa have a relationship with wolves, whom they call Ma’iingan, and that relationship goes back to their creation stories. The Red Cliff (Ojibwe) Treaty Natural Resources Department staff, Ron Nordin, monitors wolf families. He is respectful of thier homes and works side by side with them to protect them. The following are his photographs of his family with his brother’s family’s pups.

Tragic ending for the matriarch of the Echo Valley Ma’iingan (wolf) family.

Living an estimated nine years, raising pups, and supporting her family came to a tragic end on 12/25/2023, shot by a hostile-to-wolves man, who was also a retired Wisconsin DNR conservation warden. The following short film tells the story of her end

Tragedies such as these play out in the last of Wisconsin’s wilderness areas by bad actors all the time. These bad actors lack the morals, values, and ethics that have devastating effects on wild sentient beings. What happened to the Eho Valley Matriarch is just one of many crimes committed by these bad actors. The investigation into her death is ongoing to this date.

I hope we can exercise common respect for wild sentient beings as the Ojibwa have done for centuries. The People & Wolves Movie is a story of coexistence.

What can we do to coexist…

Some thoughts on how to recreate in the last wilderness areas, homes to other sentient beings.

Recognize how we human beings have changed the natural history in these wild areas.

Wild sentient beings have had to change their habits because of us. They avoid contact with us by foraging and hunting at night. Just remember, as you run your recreational vehicle through the trails in the forest, that many of the inhabitants are sleeping during the daytime to avoid contact with us. Your loud vehicle may startle a wild sentient being family, and if it has, stop and turn it off and give them room to move safely away from you.

I witnessed a horrific scene on a northern wilderness lake in Wisconsin that left me feeling ashamed to be a human being. I watched in horror as two people on jet skis harassed a loon family. The mate that was being harassed was crying out loudly to their mate who was closer to the shore. I watched them as they ran away from the harassers and headed toward thier mate for safety along the shoreline.

If you see something like this, know that it is not only ethically and morally wrong but illegal as well.

The DNR’s Violation Hotline provides Wisconsin citizens with the opportunity to confidentially report suspected wildlife, recreational, and environmental violations using a toll-free number: Call or text 1-800-847-9367 or online

It is important to gather as much information as possible regarding the harassment incident, such as vehicle description, license plate or registration, location, and time and date.

In conclusion, we humans need to understand how we impact these last wild areas and come together to share these areas, respecting wild sentient beings and thier homes.

Recognizing wild sentient beings.

Wolves are intensely loyal to PAC members and are likely to grieve of the death or disappearance of a close companion. In other words, they show many of the characteristics that make the domestic dog man’s best friend. Of course they do. They’re the ancestors of all breeds of dogs.

~Dr. Jane Goodall, quote from People & Wolves Movie