I really enjoy hearing what you all have to say regarding wolf reintroduction. I agree with both Ronnie and Karla, although their views seem somewhat contradictory. My most essential difficulty with the wolf reintroduction is the fact that they were forcably removed from their homes, their lives and packs disrupted. It is an extension of the logic of domination. Although we have done a wrong in exterminating the wolves from the lower 48, it seems that reintroduction is another example of the human domination over nature idea, except this time we are trying to make things better, rather than trying to tear the ecosystem apart and do away with what dosen't seem necessary. I realize that natural wolf recolonization may take a long time, but then why hurry? What is really the goal of reintroduction? If the ecosystem is about to collapse due to the absence of wolves, then I can understand. However, I don't believe that is the case. It seems that humans have (for some reason) switched the way they feel about wolves, started to like them, and gone on a crusade to reestablish their cute, furry selves into certain ecosystems. (This evident change in perception of wolves is in itself interesting to ecofeminism because it suggests that humans are beginning to bridge the gap between the nature/culture dualism...for humans to accept the animal that once was symbolic of all that is evil, frightening and despicable about nature is a big step (at least a big symbolic step) toward understanding that culture and nature are not mutually exclusive...) But if the concern motivating the reintroduction is truly for the wolves, it seems that the best thing to do would be to (as Karla has suggested) create and maintain corridors for wolf travel through the forests of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, as well as through the human cultures that surround these wild areas. On the other hand, the dismantling of the logic of domination is a very important and valuable task that wolf reintroduction seems to work toward. The actual process of restoring wolves to places where they are still a negative symbol may actually help people see more clearly, in the sence that wolves are not an evil embodiement of nature, and that nature is not something to be hated and feared, but something that must be accepted, understood, respected and part of culture. This is where I agree with Ronnie: wolf reintroduction is a visualization of what it may mean to dismantle the logic of domination. Ecological feminists may also support wolf reintroduction on the grounds that it is correcting for past wrongs, and that this last bit of suffering will lead to the greatest good for all the remaining wolves...does the fact that ecofeminism is a contextualist ethic interfere with this reasoning?...It is definitely very important to consider the historical context of wolves (how they have been treated) in trying to formulate a standpoint about what is going on with them in the present. It may very well be that correcting or at least atoning for past wrongs to wolves by welcoming them back into a very small fraction of their past territory far overshadows the problems inherant in reintroduction. But on the other hand, the reintroduction may just be reinforcing the way of thinking that the logic of domination is pointing to as inappropriate. Obviously, I guess, I am pretty confused about the whol issue... Colette Palamar University of Idaho Departments of Philosophy and Environmental Science [EMAIL PROTECTED]
