Kimberly L. Byrd, Conservation Biology Program, University of Minnesota, 1946 Wellesley Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA

For more than 50 years, northern Minnesota has been a battle ground over the meaning of and need for wilderness, wildlife, and natural resources. Currently, the touchstone for this debate is the question of wolf management. One's attitudes towards wolves is a shibboleth that separates friend from foe in this long-running cultural and economic battle.

What can public discussions about wolves tell us about these enduring debates? The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources held twelve wolf "Public Information Meetings" from January 5- 22, 1998 with a combined estimated attendance of 3,275 people. Detailed examinations of these meetings reveal that when people speak about wolves, they are coming to terms with essential tensions in contemporary society. These tensions reveal different perceptions of the role of humanity in the ecological drama (ontological questions); the debates are also indicative of struggles to define knowledge systems (epistemological conflicts).

For example, participants at the Wolf Public Information Meetings raised questions about human responsibility to nature and other animals. They questioned humanity's role in habitat modification and the doministic ethic that tends to run through contemporary American society. Other participants chose to support utilitarian ethics and saw little room for intrinsic rights for nature or other animals. This cooperation/competition continuum is one facet of the debate about human responsibility that frequently emerged at the Public Information Meetings.

The wolf debates also provide a perspective into the ways that people attempt to define knowledge systems. For example, the validity of particular sources of knowledge (experiential, scientific, emotional, etc.) was continually contested at the Public Information Meetings. Although many at the meetings wanted to rely on science and logic to resolve the wolf problem, few could agree on the reality or authority of scientific truth. An understanding of disagreements over scientific authority and the interpretation of scientific findings will be essential in developing viable solutions to wolf management.

Together, these debates about human/nature relationships and the struggles about knowledge systems combine to define human power bases in the larger social drama surrounding wolves. In this manner, people are using wolves to help create and express their social identity and to place this identity in context. Class struggles, urban/rural splits, and debates about local control emerge as people attempt to clarify or reposition societal power structures. Analyses of these complex factors can provide managers with insights into the social and cultural environment in which wolf management occurs.