Michael Blake

Academy Award Winner
Best-selling Author
Dances With Wolves
Two Socks from Dances With Wolves
Photograph by Ben Glass
'There is a wolf who seems intent
on the goings-on here. He does
not seem inclined to be a nuisance,
however, and, aside from my horse, is the only visitor I have had. He has
appeared each afternoon for the past two days. If he comes calling tomorrow, I will name him Two Socks. He has milky-white socks on both front paws.'
Lt. John Dunbar, U.S. A

From Dances With Wolves

BRING BACK WOLVES



I have lived in the west all my life and I love it very much.
A great portion of the west I love has been destroyed
in the name of the cow. We can no longer let cattle rule our public lands and national forests to the exclusion of other life. America's belly might be full but its spirit shrivels from want.
The wolf is largely gone from the land and with it has gone a howl the human soul rejoices to hear. It is one of the most reassuring sounds on earth. It means our ground, the ground on which our feet are planted, is alive and vibrant still.
It means the Creator is still guiding our destinies and to my mind that is how is should be. To leave man's fate wholly to man is a mistake.
It is not too late to embrace the natural world, to make planet Earth a partner in our tomorrows. The four leggeds who walk the earth and the two leggeds who fly over it are necessary members of that partnership.
For centuries we have destroyed our partners with bullets and poison and steel-jawed traps. America can no longer afford to make this kind of war on animals. We must bring them back before it is too late. We must welcome them back as special beings in the life of our world. 
Without the wolf, and those like him, our lives will eventually be reduced to nothing but us.
I hope that anyone hearing this message will help in the movement to bring back the animals of our earth.
They are us.
We will never survive without them.


Statement read at press conference in front of Capitol, Washington, D.C., May 14, 1991.   
For more information on restoring and conserving wolves:
www.forwolves.org