Media Releases

Annual Report

Wolf Related News Articles

Basic Wolf Facts

International Wolf Magazine

Our Ely Interpretive Center

International Wolf Center, Walter Medwid Honored for Role in Gray Wolf Delisting

May 14, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (May 14, 2007) -- The International Wolf Center and Executive Director Walter Medwid have been honored twice recently by national and regional organizations for leadership that contributed to delisting of gray wolves in the Midwest.

Medwid was one of two individuals to receive the Silver Eagle Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) Great Lakes/Big River Region Three on April 25. The award has been presented since 1970 and is the most prestigious honor given by the region to individuals from outside the USFWS.

On May 9, the Center was one of 10 organizations to receive the Cooperative Conservation Award from the U.S. Department of Interior for its educational role in delisting of the Western Great Lakes Wolf population.

The Cooperative Conservation Award presented by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in Washington, D.C. recognized the Center for its educational role leading to the March 12 delisting of the Western Great Lakes Wolf population.

The Department of Interior noted the efforts of nonprofit organizations, including the Center, that helped federal and state agencies educate the public with objective, science-based information about wolves, wolf ecology, management and recovery.

The USFWS citation, presented at the April 25 Midwest Wolf Stewards meeting in Cable, WI, recognized the role of the Center and Medwid in supporting actions that led to the delisting of gray wolves in the Midwest. The citation acknowledged that, "Recovery of gray wolves in the Midwest is a remarkable success story. Our Midwest wolf recovery program has been very fortunate to be the primary beneficiary of the Center's work. The successful recovery and recent delisting of midwestern wolves attests to the importance of objective information during the setting of public policy on controversial topics."

"Walter Medwid, through his long, steady and stimulating leadership of the Center, has helped the Center fill a role that the Fish and Wildlife Service could not fill. His contributions to educating the public about wolves have played a significant and direct role in wolf recovery in the upper Midwest." Also honored was Pam Troxell, coordinator of the Timber Wolf Alliance at the Sigurd Olsen Environmental Institute of Northland College in Ashland, MI.

"Walter and Pam stepped forward to take on a difficult challenge when the need for leadership became apparent," said Lynn Davis, deputy assistant regional director for ecological services for the region, in presenting the award. "They put their skills and passions to work through the organizations they direct. We can credit Pam and Walter for playing key roles in successfully restoring wolves to the Upper Midwest. It is easy to speculate that, without their help, wolf recovery in the Western Great Lakes area would still be only a dream."

"Walter has ensured that the International Wolf Center has kept its programs fresh, the information it disseminates accurate and current and its handling of ever controversial wolf issues well balanced, civil and informative."

Founded in 1985, the International Wolf Center is a nonprofit educational organization that advances the survival of wolf populations around the world by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future. The Center pursues this mission through educational initiatives that include a membership program, learning vacations, an interpretive center in Northern Minnesota, international conferences, youth outreach programs, teacher education resources and workshops, a quarterly magazine and a Web site, www.wolf.org.