Wildlife biologist and writer Douglas H. Chadwick
is author of The Wolverine Way. Photographer
Steven Gnam specializes in exploring and illumi-
nating our connection to nature.seeking to protect wolverines under the Endan-
gered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has resisted listing wolverines as threat-
ened. In 2016, citing the growing threat of climate
change, a federal judge ordered the agency to
reconsider its decision. That’s where the matter
stands today: in limbo.
Glacier National Park is home to the densest
populations of wolverines in the contiguous U.S.
But because each wolverine jealously guards a
huge territory, a total of 30 to 40 is about all that
will ever fit into the 1,500-square-mile park. Fact
is, no single preserve holds a wolverine popu-
lation large enough to be truly self-sustaining.
To cope with environmental changes and avoid
inbreeding over the long run, every group needs
to be connected to others within a larger region.
Biologists used to say that the best plan to con-
serve wildlife is to set aside parks and preserves.
Now they say we must also safeguard natural
corridors that link protected areas, ensuring
that species such as wolverines can travel across
large landscapes, exchange genes, and adjust
to shifting conditions. Wolverines aren’t much
for theory, but they know instinctively not to do
things halfway. You have to go the distance. jWOLVERINES 121