After years of whispers and reported sightings, wildlife officials have confirmed at least two wolves caught on trail cameras earlier this month roaming the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon’s northern Cascade Mountains.

It is the first time multiple wolves were detected in the area since the species returned to Oregon in the late 1990s. Conservationists cheered the news Wednesday, while local ranchers anticipated further conflict with their livestock.

Because they are located west of highways 395, 78 and 95, management of the wolves falls to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wolves remain a federally listed endangered species in Western Oregon.

John Stephenson, wildlife biologist and Oregon wolf coordinator for the USFWS, said the presence of wolves near Mount Hood comes as no surprise. For years, Stephenson said there have been frequent wolf sightings and documentation of dispersers from other packs in northeast Oregon.

“Now there’s two, and they’ve been there for a while now,” Stephenson said. “We’ll probably attempt to get a collar on one of them at some point and collect scat so we can figure out where they came from.”

The executive director of the Eugene-based environmental group Cascadia Wildlands, said it is heartening to see gray wolves continuing to reoccupy historic territories across the Northwest after they were nearly exterminated.

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Because wolves are prolific breeders and able to adapt to a range of habitats, they do fine, so long as they’re not poisoned, trapped or profusely shot. The key to a future for wolves is retaining public support by minimizing conflict. That means finding ways for wolves and ranchers to coexist.

Washington has forged a model for building coexistence based on bringing stakeholders together through respect, dialogue and a search for common ground. This year, nearly 100 Washington ranchers and farmers signed agreements to employ deterrence measures, from range riding to guard dogs, to prevent or reduce conflicts with wolves.

While some conservation groups cling to the idea that firing off press releases and lawsuits will win the day for wolves, the progress in Washington demonstrates that cooperation and compromise offer a better path to the long-term future of wolves.

This transformation through collaboration does more than protect wolves; it shows respect for rural communities. It demonstrates that cooperation rather than culture war can lead to practical solutions in some of the reddest counties in the West.

The alternative approach is seen in Montana, Idaho and especially Wyoming, where more than 20 percent of the population — literally hundreds of wolves — is killed annually. You don’t hear about these deaths because they’re so common. In Washington, wolf kills are rare enough that some activists name each dead animal.

In Washington, key conservation groups, ranchers, hunters and other interests have enough integrity to stand together and oversee the implementation of policies they helped craft. That’s something special in today’s divided West.

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by Isaac and Bjornen Babcock

Central Idaho’s Frank Church-River of No Return is a wilderness of steep, rugged mountains, deep canyons, and wild, whitewater rivers. The Salmon River Mountains, located south of the Main Salmon and west of the Middle Fork, are the most massive range, and dominate the Wilderness. North of the Main Salmon River are the Clearwater Mountains, east of the Middle Fork are the Bighorn Crags. The Salmon River Canyon is one of the deepest gorges in North America, deeper even than the famous Grand Canyon of the Colorado in Arizona. But in contrast to the Grand Canyon, the Salmon River Canyon is not noted for sheer walls and towering heights, but instead for the variety of landscapes visible from the river; wooded ridges rising to the sky, huge eroded monuments and bluffs and slides, picturesque castles and towers, and solitary crags.

It is the largest contiguous wilderness area in the lower 48 States. This land is home to numerous species of wildlife, including wolves, who have just returned after 50 years of near absence. A young couple, Isaac and Bjornen Babcock, chose this wilderness for their year-long honeymoon. But what begins as a romantic adventure becomes something much greater for the couple — and a tale of hope and celebration for every life trying to make it in the unforgiving heart of the wilderness.

Isaac has been a wildlife biologist studying wolves for more than a decade. He and his new bride Bjornen planned to use their year in the wilderness as a working honeymoon of sorts, making this documentary film and examining up close the lives of the wolf packs that inhabit the wild land. River of No Return, available in the Nature on PBS series is their finished package. In the film’s introduction Isaac talks about how this wilderness is appropriately named, “There’s no coming back from the River of No Return unchanged.”

The film follows the Babcocks through each of the four seasons as they follow the Salmon River, climb tall and rugged peaks, and camp in lush mountain meadows all the while filming adorable creatures at play and survival. This area is home to crazy birds like the dippers who comically dip up and down, and dip in the river for insects. Besides the wolves, the Babcocks captured otters, bighorn sheep, elk, deer and coyotes all on film.

Bjornen, unfortunately, in addition to experiencing the unforgiving wilderness was also having to deal with a new rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis that she learned about just before the undertaking. She had some very tough days with excruciating pain. But she soldiered on, once saying, “I’d choose an adventure with hardship over no adventure at all, anytime.”

Unlike the rough and tumble early days of the United States, modern society and culture and population have made it so that we have to create places that are called wilderness. For a homesteader in Idaho in the early 19th century, anytime they stepped outside their front door they were stepping into the backcountry. Humans shared the land with wolves, and bears, and wildcats. It was understood. Many species have since been hunted nearly out of existence.

That is one of the primary reasons why the Wilderness Act of 1964 was so important to the survival of many of the predatory species that are native to North America. As Isaac so succinctly put it, “Wolves need a place to live by their rules, not ours.” If you, your children, and your grandchildren wish to continue enjoying wild places and wild things, it is incumbent upon us all to continue the principles of those who crafted the Wilderness Act. Don’t be fooled by those who wish to sell our public lands to the highest bidder. Those bidders will be the mining, oil and gas, and timber industries who want only to rape the land for their bottom line.

It was hard on Isaac and Bjornen to live that year in the wilderness. Isaac was constantly toting around extremely heavy camera equipment. Bjornen was in near-constant pain. It was cold. It was humid. They were attacked by unrelenting mosquitos. But when all was said and done, they hated to see their adventure end. As Isaac concluded, “I found something I didn’t even know was lost — a way of life so simple and so complete.”

River of No Return is 53 minutes in length and is available for streaming on the PBS website, or for purchase in DVD or Blueray format. While you’re there, be sure to also check out many of the other outstanding documentary films of the Nature on PBS series.

Here is a brief sample:

This post was created by Jeff Clark. Please feel free to use the sharing icons below, or add your thoughts to the comments. Pack it in, pack it out. Preserve the past. Respect other hikers. Let nature prevail. Leave no trace.