Greetings Wolf Enthusiasts!
Timber Wolf Information Network is a Not-For-Profit Organization dedicated to disseminating information on wolves and wolf ecology. This group was awarded 501 C(3) status in November of 1989. Given the emotions that embroil wolf conservation, the founding members decided to focus on providing information as unbiased as possible, enabling individuals to make up their own minds. It’s specifically written in our Mission Statement. Our non-profit status is based on remaining solely educational and non-political. As such the TWIN Board rarely provides comments on government or other NGO viewpoints or activities. We base our position and our educational efforts on science, not opinion.
TWIN believes in wolf conservation. Generally TWIN believes that wolves living within human-dominated landscapes such as the Upper Great Lakes States need to be managed. Management issues are complex, and with wolves, this means mitigating depredation problems. These creatures are, after all, predators, and occasionally can and do cause hardships for people. Recognizing this, TWIN generally accepts that regulated harvesting of wolves either by government officials or by regulated public seasons, are an acceptable management tool. TWIN recognizes that some wolf enthusiasts may find this position offensive. So be it.
TWIN is located and based in central Wisconsin. Our primary educational outreach tools are our Web-page, and the half-dozen Wolf Ecology workshops we teach each winter at various sites located within Wisconsin. The web-page focuses on wolves in the Upper Great Lakes States, North America and the World. The 2-day workshops are comprehensive, and focus on wolf conservation and ecology within Wisconsin and in the Upper Great Lakes States region (Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin). Our primary revenue source comes from these Wolf Ecology Workshops, contracted by various nature centers located throughout the state.
Volunteers are our backbone. TWIN consists of a core of about 15 – 20 individuals who regularly attend the bi-annual Board Meetings (usually late September and either mid March or early April), providing input into the organization’s business affairs. The Board Meetings are held in Central Wisconsin. Anyone is invited to attend. For information on the next meeting, consult this web-link.
Among our active members, the majority are actively involved in wolf conservation work as volunteers with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ winter Volunteer Carnivore Trackers and summer Howling programs. Some have worked as professional biologists and were involved in capturing, collaring and monitoring wolves in the Upper Great Lakes over the past 30 years. Many of the same individuals who attend the Board Meetings also teach the workshops, run the web-page, and do innumerable behind-the-scenes activities necessary to keeping a small Not-For-Profit Organization going.
Volunteering is a fine way for individuals to contribute towards wolf conservation. Like many small Not-For-Profit groups, TWIN is always looking for more volunteers. Perhaps the best way to “hook up” with TWIN is to attend one of its Winter Wolf Ecology workshops to see if TWIN is the right fit for you, and then come to one of our Board Meetings. Seek us out; share your talents whatever these may be. We “wolfer-veterans” will find a niche for you!
Dick Thiel,
Chairperson
Timber Wolf Information Network
