Canis lupus ex Fabula: The Wolf of Myth

Wednesday, August 19th
7:00–8:15 PM
Madeline Island Museum

Speaker: Erik R. Olson, Assistant Professor of Natural Resources, Northland College

The Tug of War Over Wolves

Wolf management status has oscillated between state and federal management authority since 2003. These oscillations highlight the ongoing debate over how we should manage our relationship with wolves. This talk will explore the implications of this tug of war regarding wolf management status and look for ways forward.

Erik R. Olson,
Assistant Professor of Natural Resources, Northland College. 

Although his travels have exposed him to many beautiful landscapes and cultures, his roots run deep in northern Wisconsin. From childhood to present, the woods, streams, wetlands, lakes, and prairies of Wisconsin have been his classroom. Currently, he is researching multiple aspects of wolf management and ecology in the Great Lakes Region, including:  the implications of the sociopolitical conflict over wolves, the spatial and temporal patterns of wolf-human conflicts, how changes to wolf management and policy affect wolf-human conflicts, wolf management and tribal treaty rights, the behavioral response of white-tailed deer to the presence of wolves, and the top-down effect of wolves throughout the food web (trophic cascades).

This program is made possible by the generous support of the Apostle Islands Area Community Fund.