Avondale in Cincinnati in Hamilton County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
A Fierce Green Fire
"Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf…—from Thinking Like a Mountain, an essay by
We were eating lunch on a high rimrock, at the food of which a turbulent river elbowed its way. We saw what we thought was a doe fording the torrent, her breast awash in white water. When she climbed the bank toward us and shook out her tail, we realized our error; it was a wolf. A half-dozen others, evidently grown pups, sprang from the willows and all joined in a welcoming melee of wagging tails and playful maulings…
In those days we had never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf. In a second we were pumping lead into the pack… When our rifles were empty, the old wolf was down, and a pup was dragging a leg into impassible slide-rocks.
We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to me and the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch: I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.
Since then I have lived to see state after state extirpate its wolves. I have watchedthe face of many newly wolfless mountain, and see the south-facing slopes wrinkle with a maze of new deer trails. I have seen every edible bush and seedling browsed…to death. In the end the starved bones of the hoped-for deer herd, dead of its own too-much…
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So also with cows. The cowman who cleans his range of wolves does not realize that he is taking over the wolf's job of trimming the herd to fit the range. He has not learned to think like a mountain. Hence we have dustbowls, and rivers washing the future into the sea."
Aldo Leopold (1949),
Father of Wildlife Ecology
Erected by Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Animals • Environment • Natural Features • Natural Resources.
Location. 39° 8.733′ N, 84° 30.459′ W. Marker is in Cincinnati, Ohio, in Hamilton County. It is in Avondale. Marker can be reached from Vine Street north of Erkenbrecher Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3400 Vine St, Cincinnati OH 45220, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Mexican Wolf (a few steps from this marker); Centuries of Wildlife in Ohio
Credits. This page was last revised on February 4, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 2, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 134 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 2, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
