We are happy to report that during the 1^st half of this year the Wolf education team has already done more than 30 off-site educational programs. In addition to the programs off-site, we have taken visitors on over 40 facility tours. Nanook, Mesa, Shaman and occasionally Sara have been all over the state of Colorado with Pat, Leighton, Gaye, Gail and our newest team member Diane, an American Sign Language interpreter. Because of Diane we are now able to reach the hearing impaired on a level equal with that of our hearing audience.

The programs have been held in schools, for scouts, professional groups, at public events and various businesses. Mesa, Shaman, and the team were also invited to and attended The Wolf Symposium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, (formerly the Denver Museum of Natural History). Several of the scientists attending had never seen a live wolf up close before, although they work every day with the bones of wolves’ etc. Shaman in particular was of great interest to them and they told us how pleased they were to be able to meet him.

Some of our larger upcoming public events include Camp Collins on the 4^th of July, The New West Fest on August 19^th and 20^th and the Tour De Fat on October 14^th. Please contact us for more information on these events and others.

While we are speaking of programs, I would like to invite any of our members who might be interested in working on the educational programs to give us a call. The existing team as a whole is just about “maxed out”. We cannot expand the educational aspect of Wolf without getting more people involved. Working with the team or possibly setting up a new team will take training and time. Please give us a call so we can get you started. WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Remember, if you or anyone you know is interested in having an educational program, call Pat directly at 970-416-9531 for information on dates available and fees. Brochures describing the different types of programs available will be sent upon request. Please remember to book your program early. Discounts are available for groups over 100.

The list seems to grow every time we publish a newsletter. If you know of any sources for these items that can be contributed or acquired at a significant discount, please contact us.

Materials

Tranquilizer Rifle (DanInject, costs $1600 - specific model)
40 Portable Kennels (Large/Extra Large - wire type)
Small Enclosed Trailer (for hauling Wolf merchandise to programs)
Motor Home Tires (so we can use it for programs)
Horse Leads (to be used as leashes)
Collars (Snap type/Heavy duty/for large animals)
6 Sets - Walkie-talkies(for emergency communications)
Weed Whacker (heavy duty - for brush clearing)
Lawn Mower (heavy duty - for brush clearing)
1-Ton Pickup(in good working condition)
Ink Jet Printer (1200 dpi)

Labor

Mechanic Services (to fix transmission on Ford 555 backhoe)
Bookkeeper (to help with data entry)
Fundraiser (to help initiate and organize events)
Backhoe Operator (to help with lake and road maintenance)

Or

Benevolent Multimillionaire(in which case skip all of the above)

President’s Letter

(Frank Wendland)

As usual we skipped publishing the spring edition of our newsletter. We figure that the summer issue is going out pretty early so maybe we won’t miss the fall edition.

As you read this issue you will notice that we continue to be challenged by the Great Spirit. We are still trying to complete repairs to the lake caused by spring ‘99 flooding. Every time we think we’re about done something else occurs to keep it on the active ‘To Do’ list. We currently are trying to determine the best approach to seal a leak to a portion of the lake that had not been effected by the flooding. We perceive the lake to be very important to the facility as it is our first line of defense in the case of fire. The weather has not cooperated either. We have not had a good opportunity to seed all of the areas that are bare ground as rain has been next to nil.

As everything becomes drier and drier we are forced to prioritize our time and finances towards the lessons that we learned from the recent forest fire. Although we were very satisfied with our first attempt at evacuation, we realized that the tasks need to happen more quickly and with better communication. Unfortunately, the lessons learned require significant expenditures unless we can find sources of donated items. If you read the ‘Wish List’ you will notice that we have identified a new darting rifle, walkie-talkies and more travel kennels as well as additional darting and leashing supplies. These items we believe will increase our response time in the event that another evacuation becomes necessary. We are planning a ‘thank you/brainstorming BBQ’ for all of the individuals involved in the evacuation. Our goal is not only to say thanks, but also to prepare a more efficient plan for evacuation with input from anyone who is interested in being a part of the evacuation team. If you were not involved and would like to be on that team please call us so we can include you in this meeting.

The county lawsuit is still taking a lot of time and lots more money than is moral. Just to have the video tapes of the public hearing with the county commissioners transcribed into writing cost us $2480. Most of the issues are sensitive enough that it would be inappropriate to comment on them. We were amazed at the response to the legal aid fund and are extremely grateful to all of those who have contributed. However, we are not even close to covering the total expenses that will be incurred through the term of the suit. We appreciate all of those who have contributed and have included again in this newsletter the special offer of Pat’s artwork for donations to the legal defense fund.

The Pow-Wow event was extraordinarily time intensive and we did make some money. See article on Pow-Wow.

We continue to receive a multitude of calls from individuals who are looking to place animals. Current calculations would indicate that we are ahead of last year’s pace. Therefore, we will probably exceed 500 requests by the end of the year. We are hoping the educational video that we have in the process of production will help with this situation. Unfortunately the producer, who is giving us a price break, has been so busy with full-paying customers that it is not getting done as quickly as we had hoped.

Outside of the death of Cherokee (see article) all of the animals are doing well. Bear, who is now alone due to Cherokee’s death, is going to be moved into the enclosure that contains Cheyenne and Spirit. We believe that this arrangement is going to help him get through his grieving and provide him with the companionship that wolves desperately need. Normally our approach would be to accept two new individuals who are very young and introduce them into his enclosure. Unfortunately the county attorney learned of Cherokee’s death and cautioned us against accepting new animals. Even though it would not be in violation of our conditions for the zoning variance, we are trying hard to show our good faith. If it becomes necessary, however, we will accept new animals in order to make sure that Bear has that companionship. Chana seems to be responding to her chemo therapy well and has been placed back in her original enclosure with Peter and Bacchus. Shaman and Kasha continue to grow like weeds. They were both approximately 90 pounds and 30 to 32 inches high at the shoulder on their first birthdays of May 5th and May 13th respectively. The New Mexico pups (Mako’ce, Tate’ and Pe’ta) have grown up beautifully and although still very shy of humans are coming closer all the time. Whisper (their adopted mom) is still very protective of them.

With all that is going on, we again encourage anyone who wishes to be a part of the volunteer force to contact us. We are still encouraging all of our supporters to spread the word. Money seems to be our only limitation and if every supporter told ten people about us and encouraged them to tell ten more and so on, we believe we could accomplish significantly more in both the preventative and remedial measures necessary to help these misunderstood animals. As before, we do have a video tape about Wolf and literature available to anyone who needs them.

 

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