“In that respect, the fate of wolves in inextricably woven with that of humanity.”

“Even as they sought their destruction, many considered them [wolves] "possessed of near human intelligence," according Stanley Young, one so refined and subtle that it "at times caused the greatest wonderment.”

“Quipped one frustrated Colorado rancher in the early 1920s, "Wolves have all been trapped at, shot at, and poisoned at so long that they can damn near speak English!"...To the specter of the rancher, the most we can say today is that wolves have yet to learn the language of humans, while we, if only in the most primitive fashion, have begun listening to theirs.”

“As top predators, both humans and wolves evolved the most successful means to capitalization on the continent's wealth of prey. In short, by traveling parallel paths, the two species arrived that the same solution of how not only to survive, but flourish.The resemblance is haunting.”

“Deer needed predators to trim their numbers and keep them from destroying their environment, he said. To do away with predators such as wolves was tantamount to "ecological murder," with far-reaching consequences both to deer and their habitat. "I now suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer.”

“As healthy and viable populations of wild animals, wolves were gone from most of eastern North America long before the death of the last animals.”

“Wolves, like all living things, had been created by God with "a purpose," declared Shoemaker, and thus have "an inherent right to live, to be protected by mankind.”