MIKE PHILLIPS on Gray Wolves and the Vitality of Death /152

Not long ago, packs of gray wolves roamed freely across so-called North America from the grassy prairies of Florida to the snow-capped peaks of Colorado. Alongside a growing agricultural industry and settler expansion West, the U.S. government marshalled a perverse, ruthless campaign to systematically eradicate the gray wolf, driving this keystone species to the brink of extinction. Since the 1970s, the slow process of wolf recovery has begun, but the gray wolf remains endangered. On this week’s episode, we speak with Mike Phillips, a conservationist and longtime ally of gray wolves who has served as the Executive Director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund and advisor to the Turner Biodiversity Divisions since he co-founded both with Ted Turner in 1997. During his employment with the Department of Interior Mike served as the leader of historic efforts to restore red wolves to the southeastern US and gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park. He also conducted important research on the impacts of oil and gas development on grizzly bears in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, predation costs for gray wolves in Alaska, black bear movements in northeastern North Carolina, and dingo ecology in Australia. In 2006, Mike was elected to the Montana legislature where he served as the representative for House District 66 in Bozeman until 2012 when he was elected to the Montana Senate. Ayana and Mike’s conversation touches on the history of cattle ranching and grazing rights, trophic cascades, the violent lineages of conservation, and ecological restoration as an antidote to species loss. Music by Mac Demarco