Cat Urbigkit, an advocate for the conservation of what were presumed to be remaining populations of wolves native to the Yellowstone area, a newspaper reporter who covered the debate over wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone and central Idaho during and after the mid-1990s, and one of the litigants who sued the US Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent the introduction of Canadian wolves into the region, is uniquely qualified to provide an intensely personal perspective on, and detailed record about, the debate over the Canadian wolf release and the circumstances that subsequently developed.

The Foreword by Ronald M. Nowak provides authoritative context for understanding the broader significance of endangered species management and the record, and trends, of the United States in managing the nation s biological diversity and adhering to the mandates of the Endangered Species Act.