HOWLING ABOUT THE LAND: RELIGION, SOCIAL SPACE, AND WOLF REINTRODUCTION IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES By GAVIN VAN HORN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2008 1 © 2008 Gavin Van Horn 2 To Marcy, sin miedo. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS People say getting a PhD is a matter not so much of intelligence but endurance. I endured, but I also had the support of many intelligent people, and, more importantly, many caring people. Chief among them was Marcy, who has loved me from coast to coast and taught me what sacrifice means. Words on a page won’t do. I also want to give deserved credit to Hawkins, even though he can’t read this yet, for bolstering my spirits, for his wonder-filled giggles, and for helping me tend the garden. I am deeply grateful to my parents, who accused me of lingering too long in the womb of mother academia but also supported me unfailingly as I did. Special thanks go to Bron, who tempted me to come to Florida, and then made me a better scholar while I was there. I am also indebted to Anna, Jack, Paul, and Bill, who dedicated time, energy, and encouragement to my work. Finally, I will always be appreciative of the UF Religion and Nature crew, especially to Sam and Luke for their friendship and extra feedback, and to B-rad, partly for his hair but mostly for his hugs. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................8 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................11 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................13 CHAPTER 1 MARKING TERRITORY: THE RELEVANCE OF WOLVES TO RELIGION .................14 Prologue ..................................................................................................................................14 Marking Territory: Why Religion? .........................................................................................15 Marking Territory: Why Wolves? ..........................................................................................21 Marking Territory: A Working Definition of Religion (in relation to nonhuman beings) .....28 Marking Territory: The Topography of the Religious Imagination .......................................36 Marking Territory: Interdisciplinary Mutants ........................................................................39 2 ANIMISTIC RELATIONALITY, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, AND THE CONTEST OF ANIMAL ORDERS .........................................................................................................44 Wolves as Insiders: Animistic Relationality ...........................................................................46 Understanding Animism .........................................................................................................50 Relating Particularly ...............................................................................................................52 Wolves as Outsiders: On the Edges of (Cognitive) Maps ......................................................60 The Lamb(s) of God and The Good Shepherd .......................................................................64 Worshipping the Created? Accusations of Paganism .............................................................76 The Roots and the Shoots of a Religious Conflict ..................................................................82 3 POSTERWOLVES: CONSTRUCTING AND CONSTRICTING A WILDERNESS ICON .......................................................................................................................................94 Introduction: Wolf Terrorists and Wolf Superstars ................................................................94 Wolf Iconography: Studying Animal Images and the Human Imagination .........................100 Destroying and Deploying Icons ..........................................................................................103 Green Fire and Thinking like a Mountain ............................................................................108 The Green Fire Spreads: Charisma and Advocacy ...............................................................113 Wild Animals with Green Fire .............................................................................................114 Conserving Green Fire ..........................................................................................................118 Icons on the Ground: The Dilemmas of Controlling Green Fire ..........................................122 Reflecting on Green Fire ......................................................................................................127 5 4 HUMAN AND WOLF TOPOGRAPHY IN THE SOUTHWEST: BACKGROUND ........137 Making a Living on the Land ...............................................................................................138 Livestock and “Civil” Society ..............................................................................................141 Government Interventions: From “Essentially Eliminated” to “Nonessential Experimental” ...................................................................................................................146 The Gathering Storm ............................................................................................................154 Meeting Wolves Again for the First Time ............................................................................159 5 HUMAN AND WOLF TOPOGRAPHY IN THE SOUTHWEST: THE VALUES ...........169 Myths as “Sensible” Narratives ............................................................................................169 The Values of Land ..............................................................................................................172 Pastoral Ethics ......................................................................................................................175 Wolves and Ranchers ...........................................................................................................183 Future Visions: Keeping Land Open and in the Family .......................................................190 Environmental(ist) Ethics .....................................................................................................193 Wolves and Environmentalists .............................................................................................198 Future Visions: Keeping Land Healthy for All Creatures ....................................................203 Managerial Ethics .................................................................................................................207 Wolves and the Government ................................................................................................218 Future Visions: Keeping Land Manageable and People Reasonable ...................................224 Narrating the Future of Wolf Recovery ................................................................................228 6 INSCRIBING VALUES ON THE LAND: “PROBLEM WOLVES,” HOMELAND SECURITY, AND MARGINAL THOUGHTS ...................................................................234 Wolf Transgressions .............................................................................................................237 Signaling Territory: Wolves .................................................................................................240 Signaling Territory: Humans ................................................................................................245 Border Work: Government Zones and “Problem Wolves” ..................................................252 Homeland Security ...............................................................................................................262 Opening Space ......................................................................................................................276 7 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS AND PARTING HOWLS ..................................................279 Religion as Part of the Dialogue ...........................................................................................279 The Test of Time, Narrative, and Community .....................................................................283 Parting Howls .......................................................................................................................289 APPENDIX: A FEW WORDS ABOUT INTERVIEW CONTENT AND METHODS ............294 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................294 Interviews .............................................................................................................................295 Interview Question Set .........................................................................................................297 6 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................301