In its three-year history, one of the most anticipated highlights of Sedona Wolf Week for locals has been the children’s workshop.
This year it’s back and holds even more excitement featuring retired Yellowstone Park Ranger and wolf advocate Rick McIntyre. A once-in-a-lifetime experience for children to learn from the man who is considered to be most intimate with Yellowstone’s wolves, the Saturday, March 30, workshop is full of special moments that will enthrall any youngster.
It has been said that McIntyre has had his eyes on wild wolves more hours than anyone else in the country, if not the world. McIntyre first became fascinated by wolves upon his first sighting of them in 1976 while working as a naturalist in Mount McKinley National Park, later named Denali National Park. He worked 15 summers in the park and in the winters was stationed in desert national parks such as Death Valley, where he was once the supervising ranger on the location set of “Return of the Jedi.”
In 1994, McIntyre was hired as a naturalist at Yellowstone National Park and had the title Wolf Interpreter. All of his programs were on wolves and the proposed wolf reintroduction. The following January, the reintroduction launched with the first batch of 14 wolves arriving from Alberta, Canada and another 17 brought in from British Columbia the following year. Unexpectedly, those wolves were frequently visible from the park road and he helped thousands of visitors see them.
He began to volunteer for the Wolf Project, the research team that monitored the wolves and studied their behavior, and switched over to working for Doug Smith, the project’s lead wolf biologist, in 1998. McIntyre continued his work as biological technician for wolf research in Yellowstone National Park until his recent retirement in 2018.
For over 15 years, from June of 2000 through August of 2015, he went out before dawn every single day into the park.
During one period, he saw wolves for 892 days in a row. In early 2019, he surpassed 100,000 wolf sightings in Yellowstone with nearly 12,000 pages of field notes of his observations.
McIntyre continues his daily study of wolves in Yellowstone while writing a series of three books about his experiences with wolves in Yellowstone.
This extraordinary event for children will include:
- Learning how wolf packs are families and other fun facts
- Storytelling and coloring activity
- Meeting the Apex Ambassador Pack
- Face painting
It is recommended that children’s places are reserved early as space is limited. This event has sold out for the past two years and it is anticipated that it will do so again this year.
Visit SedonaWolf week.org or call (559) 425-6191 for a full schedule of events or to get tickets to either event.
A joint project of Plan B to Save Wolves and Apex Protection Project, Sedona Wolf Week’s mission is to change the way people view wolves and to affect how the government develops policies regarding wolves while creating respect and protections for this essential apex predator.
Proceeds from Sedona Wolf Week are used to provide transport, rescue and lifesaving medical care to wolves, wolfdogs, sanctuaries, rescues and other wolf supporting organizations.
Current recipients include: Trap Free Montana, Wolves of the Rockies, Apex Protection Project, Keepers of the Wild, Villa Lobos Rescue, Heart of the Wolf, Grey Area, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, Wolf People, Oregon Rescue and numerous individual wolf rescues.
Sedona Wolf Week’s presenting sponsor is Poco Diablo Resort, an enterprise of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.
Additional sponsors include the Sedona International Film Festival, Studio 5 USA, Sedonacentric, Sedona NOW TV, Goldenstein Gallery, Andrew Bailor State Farm Insurance and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce.
Information about becoming a sponsor for Sedona Wolf Week or about the event and how to volunteer and more is available by emailing b@planb.foundation. Visit SedonaWolfWeek.org for a complete listing of events or to purchase tickets.
The Plan B Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 corporation created to support organizations in their mission to protect, preserve and rescue wolves and wolfdogs through advocacy, education and funding. To learn more, visit PlanB.Foundation or call (714) 478-0353.
Apex Protection Project, Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to protecting wolves and wolf dogs through educational experiences, rescue and advocacy with the dream of living in a world where the wolf and all species are highly valued, protected and respected for the balance they bring to the ecosystem and for the gifts they offer humanity. To learn more, visit ApexProtectionProject.org.
