The wolves have been reintroduced into the lower 48 states . . . but why was this done? What is the theory, as it were, behind this? Wolves are not threatened as a species -- plenty of wolves in Alaska and Canada, right? I'm guessing the idea was -- "Well, wolves once roamed the lower 48. It was unjust, it was imprudent, it was arrogant of our species to dispatch these animals from the lower 48." I'm wondering what the rationale was. There are a lot of things that aren't what they were before man increased in numbers and started dominating nature more aggressively with technology -- the plow, the bulldozer, the concrete truck, the rifle, etc. I'm assuming we aren't going to try to reverse all of this and return to our stone-age level of technology. Are wolves needed as a natural check on populations of some animals, as birds may be necessary to reduce the number of insects? If they have been reintroduced just because they look cuddly and because of the movie White Fang, this kind of wishy-washy thought can be contended with, can't it?

Is the policy on wolf reintroduction underpinned by the endangered species act, and if so how? I'm curious about this. Frankly, I don't even understand the idea of reintroducing wolves with the provision that they be controlled and kept in check. This is like reintroducing smallpox with the provision that we try to limit the damages caused thereby.

I admit to being pretty clueless about this issue, so maybe this background is known and obvious to most people.