NAVIGATION TIMELINE Home Wolf Facts Puppies Wolf Myths Protect Species Timeline Visit Wolves Wolf Killers Gallery Multimedia Poetry Headlines Action Alerts WolfDogs Dakota MacKenzie Links Web Rings TIMELINE 20,000 B.C. Cave drawings of wolves are made in southern Europe 5,000 B.C. Early agricultural settlements in Southwest Asia come into conflict with wolves 800 B.C. Numerous references to wolves are made in Homer's epic poem The Iliad 600 During the European Middle Ages, legends of werewolves and beliefs that wolves are associated with devils abound 1600 Native American's coexisted peacefully with the wolf. Wolves played a prominent role in their culture and spirituality. They made no efforts to control wolf population or eliminate them from their land. 1700 Early settlers seemed indifferent to wolves. Wolves did not pose a threat to the early settlers livelihood and they were not considered to be valuable furbearers. 1758 Linnaeus recognizes the wolf as a circumpolar species and gives the species the Latin name Canis lupus linnaeus 1790 Russian and German naturalists report wolves in Alaska 1817 Wolf bounties US Congress passed a wolf bounty in the Northwest Territories, which included what is now the Great Lakes region, in response to the negative attitudes of European immigrants who settled in this area. These immigrants did not value wolves, considered wolves to be a menace to their livestock, and already had a long history of persecuting them in their homeland. 1840 Thousands of settlers head west on the Oregon Trail and the Santa Fe Trail. Increased settlers come into conflict with wolves and the entire Great Plains ecosystem begins to be destroyed 1870 First cattle drives introduce livestock into previously remote mountain habitat for wolves; sheep herds will come later, leading to even more destruction of wolves and other predators 1872 Yellowstone National Park Created in Northwestern Wyoming. The Park was created by an act of Congress. 1880 Theodore Roosevelt reports wolves are becoming scarce in the Dakotas 1909 Aldo Leopold kills a mother wolf and pups in the Apache National Forest of Arizona. This incident will later inspire his seminal essay "Thinking Like a Mountain," written in 1944 and published in 1949 1914 Congress designates U.S. Biological Survey (USFWS) as chief predator control agency 1915 First professional trappers and hunters hired by U.S. Biological Survey , operating in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Wolf bounty is offered in Alaska. 1930 Wolves Eliminated in Lower 48 states. Wolf populations were eliminated from all but the northernmost areas of these states. Sport hunters also favored a bounty on wolves because wolves were considered unwanted competitors for deer. 1925 Last wolf in South Dakota ("Old Three Toes") is killed 1926 Since 1914 about 120 wolves had been killed in Yellowstone National Park; after 1926 there were no viable reports of wolves or wolf activity in northwestern Wyoming for a number of decades 1927 Last wolf in eastern Montana is killed 1935 Wolf Bounties End in National Parks. The federal government ends predator control in Yellowstone and other national parks. 1944 First Wolf Study Published The first scientific study of wolf behavior and ecology - Adolph Murie's "The Wolves of Mt. McKinley" is publised. Conservation leader Aldo Leopold advocates wolf restoration to Yellowstone ecosystem and other large wild areas in the West. 1948 Special Act of Congress Permits wolf trapping in Mount McKinley N.P. over the objections of Adolph Murie and other biologists 1950 Aerial hunting of wolves in Alaska and Canada begins 1960 Public attitude changes The environmental revolution of the 1960s helps peoples attitudes. By 1966 the first federal Endangered Species Act (to cover only lands under federal jurisdiction) was passed. Wolf protection efforts and research have increased. 1963 Farley Mowat publishes Never Cry Wolf which for the first time portrays wolves positively to the public. Leopold report recommends predator restoration 1970 Wolves in Great Lakes area The Wolf population begins to re-establish in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. With NO re-introduction by humans. 1973 Endangered Species Act passed Congress enacts the Endangered Species Act, mandating recovery planning for endangered and threatened species. The eastern timber wolf is listed as endangered and the USFWS takes over the management of wolves in 3 states of the western Great Lakes region. 1975 Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Team The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) assembles the Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Team to prepare a plan for recovering the wolf, as mandated by the ESA. 1979 Wolf found in Northern Rockies Biologists capture a wolf just north of the Canadian border and track her movements by means of a radio collar. The wolf is found to frequent both sides of the border. The discovery marks the first confirmed wolf activity in the U.S. Rockies in roughly 50 years. 1982 Montana wolves documented Biologists document the first continuous wolf pack activity in Montana in over half a century. 1986 Wolf Pups in Northern Rockies Biologists document the first wolf pups born in the U.S. Rockies since wolves were eradicated from the region in the 1930s. 1989 Minnesota census estimates 1550 - 1750 wolves 1990 Compensation Fund Developed Defenders of Wildlife sets up a $100,000 Wolf Compensation Fund to compensate ranchers for livestock lost to wolves. (This guarantee of financial reimbursement was an important step in improving ranchers' attitudes toward wolf reintroduction.) 1991 Wolf Recovery moves forward The first breeding pack of wolves in 30 years in Michigan is documented in the upper peninsula. Congress approves funding for an environmental impact statement (EIS) to examine the feasibility and environmental impacts of wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone park. 1995 Wolves released in Yellowstone Wolves arrive in Yellowstone National Park! 8 wolves from Alberta, Canada are brought to the Park, and 6 more arrive a week later. 1996 More Wolves introduced at Yellowstone Another round of reintroductions take place. 17 wolves from British Columbia are released into Yellowstone and 20 are released into central Idaho. 1997 Court Rules Against Yellowstone Wolves U.S. District Court Judge William Downes rules that wolf reintroduction does not conform with the Endangered Species Act and orders that reintroduced wolves and their offspring be captured and removed. NWF files a notice of intent to appeal Judge Downes' decision. Farmers claim the wolves are killing livestock. 1998 NWF works Wolf Recovery across the Nation Poll shows that the majority of Americans think that wolves should stay in Yellowstone. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt pledged to keep wolves in Yellowstone. NWF joins federal court action to protect the Mexican gray wolf. 2000 Wolf Status in question Results of the 1999-2000 winter wolf surveys confirmed that presence of approximately 2450 wolves in Minnesota, 248 wolves in Wisconsin and 216 wolves in Michigan. U.S. Fish and Wildlife service upgrades wolves from endangered status to threatened status across the country. NWF fights for continued wolf protection across the country. Appeals Court upholds the Yellowstone wolf reintroduction program, over ruling the District Court's order to remove Yellowstone and Central Idaho wolves. 2003 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publish the Final Wolf Rule that downlists the gray wolf to threatened in the eastern and western distinct population segment, while keeping the Mexican wolf as endangered. Some of the information here is from http://www.nwf.org and http://www.wildlifesciencecenter.org/