Every day, Wolf feels so blessed to have you, our wonderful supporters. Our work just would not be possible without your dedication! We were recently reminded of just how powerful and loving your support is. You may remember our plea in the last newsletter for everyone to visualize lots of snow. Winter was very dry around the Sanctuary, and we were already very concerned about fire danger, especially with the mountain pine beetle showing up in our area. We also asked for your help with fire mitigation projects. Boy, did your visualizations pay off!

On 17 April, a major spring blizzard hit the Front Range. In three days, Wolf received over four feet of the heaviest, wettest snow we have ever seen! The moisture content from this storm was exactly what we needed, and it has continued to rain almost daily since that storm was over. Although we feel better about fire danger now, the storm did come with a price tag.

It started in the early morning, and by first light, we already had one tree down in Lance and Luna’s enclosure, along with tree branches all over the place. There was already over a foot on the ground, and it showed no sign of letting up. Thankfully, Frank, Steve and Kiley were all on the premises and the downed tree was not compromising a fence line. But it was very apparent a lot of work was required for the day. The snow was very sticky, and piling up on tree branches fast. Usually the trees drop the snow quickly; this time all of them were leaning, dropping branches and falling over from the weight. And the trees weren’t the only problem. The fences were holding snow as well, preventing us from seeing in the enclosures to check on the animals or potential problems.

So began the day of massive hikes around each and every enclosure multiple times. Fortunately, Wolf had purchased snow shoes just last winter! There were trees down all over the place, and more were dropping all of the time, plus branches galore. Steve and Kiley spent the whole day hiking, checking on animals, and whacking fence lines with shovels to drop the snow off. We tried as best we could to knock snow off the leaning trees as well -- the snow just kept coming.

By the end of the day, the humans were beat and in need of sleep. However, the snow continued and the cracking and snapping of branches and trunks was more than a bit disconcerting.

In the morning we could not believe our eyes as to the amount of snow that fell and the number of branches and trees that were down. Immediately, everyone made the connection to our request of you, our supporters, to “visualize snow”! We were now trying to figure out how to contact you and say OK, nice job -- “stop visualizing!”

Then, just like the storm from out of the blue, we received a call from a wonderful gentleman who inquired as to how he might help Wolf. The discussion eventually focused on the projects that would significantly reduce our wildfire risk into the future and allow us to battle the pine beetle invasion that has plagued many areas in Colorado, which is just beginning in our area. Whole forests were being decimated by these little guys as we had mentioned in our last newsletter. Although we did not ask you to visualize a fire road or forest thinning, we did ask for volunteers, of any skill level, to help with these efforts.

After visiting the facility, this individual committed to paying for the first two phases of our fire mitigation projects. We would contract with an expert to build our fire road behind all of the enclosures on the northwest facing mountainside. This road would be almost 2,000 feet long and about 350 feet up the moutainside from the main road.

After completion of the road, the contractor would then thin the forest up from the road another 100 feet. Both of these efforts would provide buffering of the animal habitats, so as to significantly lessen the risks from wildfire.

The work began several weeks ago and the main construction on the road is complete. However, again we should have been a bit more specific with our visualizations. As the bull dozer carved its path across the mountain, we had totally forgot that the mountain is made of big, I mean really big, rocks. Somehow they all seemed to want to roll down hill. As this process began, it became apparent that we needed to build barriers to keep them from destroying our fences. That project had not been planned on and ate up a lot of our time right before our annual Waltz. This is the main reason why our newsletter is so late getting to you.

It has dawned on us that if you guys can visualize all of this into reality, that you certainly can transform other needs into reality as well. Here is your list:

Visualize a wonderful and enlightened solution to the restrictions placed on Wolf . (see County Update)

Visualize the funds that will allow us to pay our employees a decent wage and provide some benefits as well.

Visualize a caretakers cabin on the property that can provide decent living accommodations.

What the heck, let’s go for it:

Visualize a rapid lessening of irrational fears relating to wolves and all those who humans do not understand.

Visualize a new era of:

Respect and Compassion For All Life.

Centerfold -- Whisper