Free: Contests & Raffles.
policy in the modern world are based overwhelmingly on SCIENCE and FACTS
I agree completely with that, and I would bet you that the majority of environmentalists and biologists view man as a huge part of the ecosystem probably the largest part. When they were citing some quotes of some whack jobs speaking of the contrary, we were into the part of the documentary that that the extreme anti-wolf was showing through.
A very fine effort by a young film maker, and a very good 45 minute documentary. It is only marred by the fact that it is 60 minutes long. Very good and convincing explanation of the pressures that wolves are putting on rural communities, brings up some questions about how the process was started and funded, was the EIS process subverted, and is the endangered species status of wolves legitimate? Also brings up how man has been part of the ecosystem ever since the Bering Straight was crossed. The film does falsely imply that most environmentalists believe that man is distinct from the ecosystem at large, something that has faded over the last thirty years. For more writing by mainstream naturalists regarding the part of man in the ecosystem one could read the works of Stephen Pyne or Alston Chase.Where the filmmaker interviews former professor Stephen Vantessel, the message goes off topic and becomes a rambling and poorly supported diatribe against godless Commies who have sinfully forsaken God to worship Mother Earth. Somehow, the wolf issue becomes a part of God's dominion and the question becomes one of God v. Wolves None of this serves the purpose of educating the general public about wolf reintroduction, and marginalizes the entire film. Which is a pity, because the pro-wolf media certainly knows how to produce a mainstream friendly message.
Don't forget there are two documentaries out very similiar. Scott Rockholm produced the first one called "Yellowstone is Dead". If you are turned off by God then watch his. It's very well done and I think has a few more facts in it since it's longer. If you have friends that you would like to see one and you think the religious part would turn them off then have them watch Scott Rockholms. Personally I like this one just a little better because of the scriptures that talk about mans dominion over animals. Mentioning God in it didn't turn me off one little bit. Both documentaries give a lot of good facts.
I'm not sure on the credibility of a lot of the numbers and percentages some of the local people were throwing out, but clearly wolves have had their impact in and around Yellowstone and MT with the decrease in elk numbers.
The religious talk in it brought it down a bit for me, but still good overall. Sure it's a part of life in the USA, but when you're publishing a documentary which I thought was pretty well unbiased and neutral as far as the facts go until the last quarter of it when it was obviously one sided, you can't bring faith into the discussion when you're trying to rationalize your argument with facts. It's counterproductive to the argument. And yes, I'm an atheist, but have no problem with people having faith in whatever they choose to. You've got to understand however, that decisions with respect to policy in the modern world are based overwhelmingly on SCIENCE and FACTS, which faith lacks. Throw that in there, and while it depicts the heritage, culture, and mindset of the locals, it also undermines their credibility in the eyes of those who we're trying to convert.Again, I thought it was good, and was promising there for the first 75% or so to be a real fact based documentary that had the potential to educate those in favor of wolves of their real world destruction and the deceit by which they were introduced. I have already sent it to most of my family to watch, and am continuing to send links to basically everyone in my e-mail. Thanks for sharing the link!
