Early managers at Yellowstone National Park saw wolves as nothing but destructive predators. Between 1914 and 1926, at least 136 wolves were killed in the park, and by the 1940s wolf packs were nearly gone. A careful survey in the 1970s found no evidence of a wolf population there at all. Over time people came to understand how the whole ecosystem fit together. After years of study and a record number of public comments, 31 gray wolves from western Canada were brought to Yellowstone in 1995 and 1996. What had been driven out was invited back. Some things we push out of our lives, like the hard parts of obedience, turn out to be part of how God keeps us healthy.
