As I mail off my last Christmas gifts this week, I'm also waiting anxiously for a last lump of coal from the Bush administration: the decision to delist the Northern Rockies wolf.  In a rush to remove endangered species protections before it leaves office, the administration is thumbing its nose at Judge Donald Molloy's July 28th ruling that rejected its previous delisting decision and reinstated endangered species protections.  Indeed, the deficiencies identified by the judge can't be addressed within a few short months.  Wyoming, for example, has not had the chance to address the inadequacies in its state law, which allows wolves to be killed by anyone, at anytime, under nearly any circumstance in about 90% of the state, because the state legislature does not convene until January.

This administration seems hell-bent in its last hours to give "Satan's dog" its due at Christmas time: another death sentence similar to the last one.  A death sentence for up to a thousand wolves, and a shocking reversal of the incredible progress made toward wolf recovery since wolves were reintroduced to the region thirteen years ago.  At winter solstice, it's the darkest of the year in more ways than one.

It's been cold in Montana too -- 15 below zero yesterday at our house.  When I pushed our reluctant geriatric dogs outside, they tiptoed around the yard, picking up their feet as if walking on broken glass.  Within 5 minutes, Little Guy, our English Shepard, was back at the door begging to return to indoor warmth. 

Our beloved dogs would be an embarrassment to their ancestors, wolves, whose best hunting days are in winter.  They thrive in frigid temperatures and deep snows, the kind of weather that reveals the vulnerabilities of elk.  In Yellowstone, I've seen wolves out in much colder temperatures than today, just curl up in a spot sheltered from the wind, and fall asleep.

As our dogs age, we're doing everything we can to keep them going, including  chiropractic and acupuncture.  (O.K., I admit it, this is the kind of excess that can happen when you don't have kids). 

But Northern Rockies wolves don't need fancy vets, they just need to be left alone.  Which means right now, that they need champions -- and especially good lawyers.  And at this moment, my husband and the other attorneys at Earthjustice are preparing once again to go to court to defend them on behalf of NRDC and many other groups in the region.

As we approach the darkest day of the year, let us hope that these capable attorneys can bring light and hope to Northern Rockies wolves -- just as wolves, in return, remind us how to behave as family: hunting together, playing, teaching the young, and surviving the tough times, together.

Ho-Ho-Ho-or perhaps howl-howl-howl!